The Duellists

Set during the Napoleonic Wars, 'The Duellists' follows Armand d'Hubert and Gabriel Feraud, two French hussars locked in a relentless, decades-spanning feud ignited by a trivial slight. Ridley Scott's visually stunning debut film explores themes of honor, obsession, and the absurdity of pride, rendered through breathtaking period cinematography. The film remains a masterpiece of restraint and atmosphere, earning the Best First Work prize at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.

• It was Ridley Scott's feature film directorial debut.
• Based on a Joseph Conrad short story from 1908.
• Filmed largely on location in the Périgord region, France.
• Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel had genuine on-set tension.
• Cinematography was inspired by paintings of Eugene Delacroix.

• You have kept me waiting too long, Feraud. I shall kill you now.
• A soldier of the Empire cannot refuse a challenge. It is out of the question.
• You are a rare man, d'Hubert. Most men waste their lives without ever knowing themselves.
• I will never release you. Never. Do you understand me? Never.
• We are not enemies by choice, but by circumstance.