"The Duellists"

[Subdeacon Joe]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Utah Bob #35998]

Great movie. I watch it once or twice a year.

[Subdeacon Joe]

1 minute ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Great movie. I watch it once or twice a year.

 

That it is.  Fantastic costuming.  I want most of the men's clothing.

[Utah Bob #35998]

9 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

That it is.  Fantastic costuming.  I want most of the men's clothing.

I love the period. The speech, the clothing, etc.

 

I could do without the disease, poverty, lack of proper medical attention....wait a minute.....sound like today.

[Dawg Hair, SASS #29557]

The casting of Harvey Keitel was critized because of his New York accent, but in my opinion he did a fantastic job.  I am haunted by the flute playing the musical score.  The movie followed Jaseph Conrad's book very faithfully with the exception of the last chapter  where d'Hubert's wife is well aware of what's going on.  

Hollywood would have to do a lot of research to come up with another one this good.

[Subdeacon Joe]

1 hour ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

..sound like today.

 

Or at least San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Washington District of Columbia, and Sacramento.

[Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663]

As a Napoleonic history buff, I've always liked this movie.  Uniforms are accurate and the actors acted like the stereotypical hard drinking, hard fighting, hard living, womanizing, cantankerous  hussar. 

 

The famous French light cavalry general, General Lasalle said,

(Rough interpretation)

"Any hussar that isn't dead by the time he is 30 years old is a goldbricker."

 

General Lasalle, putting himself at the head of a heavy cavalry regiment (1st Cuirassiers), was killed in the Battle of Wagram at the age of 34.

 

 

[Utah Bob #35998]

Hard to beat Joachim Murat for fancy duds.

 

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

Some of his soldiers managed to live to be photographed.   What I find most amazing is  how good they look for men in their 70s in that era.
Three links, two with black and white, the other with some of the images colorized.

 

 

Monsieur Maire 7th Hussars c. 1809-15. Photo by: Brown University Library

 

Monsieur Maire, 7th Hussars Regiment, served from 1809 to 1815 and was one of the last surviving veterans of Napoleon's army. He is shown here in full dress uniform, wearing a white crossbelt and the Saint Helene medal. It was issued on August 12, 1857, and was given to all veterans of the wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire. The uniform of the Napoleonic hussars included the pelisse, seen here, a short fur edged jacket which was often worn slung over one shoulder in the style of a cape, and was fastened with a cord. His bearskin headwear with its tall shako, pompon and plume, indicate he is a Hussar Elite

 

 

 

 

 

Monsieur Dupont, Fourier for the 1st Hussar

IMAGE: BROWN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Monsieur Dupont, who was a fourier for the 1st Hussars Regiment, stands in full uniform with a Mameluke sword and a Saint Helene medal. His garment are extensively adorned with braiding (often gold or silver for officers) and several rows of multiple buttons. Under it was worn the dolman or tunic which was also decorated in braid. On active service the hussar normally wore reinforced breeches which had leather on the inside of the leg to prevent them from wearing due to the extensive riding in the saddle. On the outside of such breeches, running up the outside was a row of buttons, and sometimes a stripe in a different colour to distinguish from other regiments. His peaked shako, or hat, show he was an Officer Infantry 

[Seamus McGillicuddy]

It’s tied with “Ride With the Devil” as my all time favorite movie. Keitel is absolutely brilliant!  He just keeps getting more and more unhinged as the movie goes on. Regarding the costumes, they were a significant part of the budget but Ridley Scott said in an interview that the company that made them required that they all be returned to them after the movie was finished. So while they were all custom made he was essentially only able to rent them!  Also, if you ever get the chance take in a visit to the town of Sarlat in the Dordogne where it was filmed. Just as beautiful and picturesque as it appears on screen. I can already hear that horse snorting in that opening scene duel, I’m gonna have to break out my copy and watch it pronto. 
 

Seamus

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

On 10/10/2020 at 5:46 PM, Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663 said:

As a Napoleonic history buff, I've always liked this movie.  Uniforms are accurate and the actors acted like the stereotypical hard drinking, hard fighting, hard living, womanizing, cantankerous  hussar. 

 

The famous French light cavalry general, General Lasalle said,

(Rough interpretation)

"Any hussar that isn't dead by the time he is 30 years old is a goldbricker."

 

General Lasalle, putting himself at the head of a heavy cavalry regiment (1st Cuirassiers), was killed in the Battle of Wagram at the age of 34.

 

 

There are excellent and huge paintings of one of Napoleon’s campaigns in Hermitage in St. Petersburg and Museum of the War of 1812 in Moscow.

[Utah Bob #35998]

12 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

There are excellent and huge paintings of one of Napoleon’s campaigns in Hermitage in St. Petersburg and Museum of the War of 1812 in Moscow.

I'll stop by next time I'm in town.