The Duelist (Duelyant) [Sub: Eng]
An attractive story that highlights and illustrates the glittering Russian aristocratic society of the 19th century following the wars. Here the life of the warrior named Yakovlev, who is able to enter many of the battles, is revealed in the parades of nobles with specific rituals and laws. This old warrior can end the life of the foes in front of him and make a comfortable life by winning those matches while adhering to the laws that the nobles put in the fencing.
1 September 1958, Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Ukraine]
September 3, 1946 in Abakan, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Khakassia, Russia]
27 November 1963, Tula, Tulskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]
22 May 1977, Volgograd, Volgogradskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]
December 03, 2016
Gorgeously empty, The Duelist is more interesting as a reflection of the Russian sociopolitical climate today than it is as an actual goddamn movie.October 28, 2016
...a swashbuckling, exciting tale.December 01, 2016
Dazzles and provokes as it makes little real sense beyond the confines of its hermetic milieu.November 30, 2016
Eye for detail makes The Duelist's protagonists just as compelling as their setting.December 01, 2016
Most fans of costume drama don't head to the movies expecting explosive exit wounds, and few action fans are going to be wowed by ostentatious lapels.December 01, 2016
The clichéd story line pursues turgidity with a relentless determination.November 30, 2016
A tiresome but meticulously detailed and visually sumptuous Russian melodrama about romance and intrigue amid the nobility in 19th century St. Petersburg.December 01, 2016
The look of the movie is still the most appealing thing about it. Whether you watch a film on a giant screen or an iPhone, the format doesn't untangle messy plot threads.December 01, 2016
Writer-director Mizgirev has a sharpshooter's cold pair of eyes. His lens adds an antiseptic quality to the many deaths... It's Fyodorov's performance that communicates the emotional burden of killing.November 30, 2016
Mizgirev's script is an indigestible, soap-operatic mess of backstories, clichés, and the kind of ambiguous mystic overtones that have become an unbreakable addiction for Russian film.December 02, 2016
A welcome indication of the current Russian cinema's commercial ambitions and potential.November 30, 2016
Decidedly retro and spectacular to look at.