The Duelist

I've seen so much shitty movies with good ratings lately that this one lifted my spirits.

This film is very entertaining.

There was a time when honour and real men existed, what a mediocre epoch we are living today with our despising values and degenerated society.

Good acting and nice setting.

This was one of the best period movies I have seen in quite a long time, if you are interested in Russian Culture or have been to St. Petersburg, speak Russian and German you may even like it more. I thought the movie was riveting, suspenseful, and engrossing. I found it hard to take my eyes off the screen, and will watch it again with my wife. The sets, costumes, locations, were as good as it gets. A must see for a foreign film.

Set in 19th century Imperial Russia, this quite violent Russian film stars Pyotr Fyodorov, who gives a powerful performance as the mysterious Yakovlev. He's only been in the city of St. Petersburg for several months but has already killed 5 men as a duelist (comparable in a way to a Wild West gunslinger). Only slowly do we learn of his motivations, and it's only towards the very end of the movie that all is revealed.

To note, I thought some of the plot elements could be rather obtuse and difficult to follow at times. The settings and cinematography are exquisite and I really got the sense that I was right there in 19th century Russia.

All in all, if you don't mind the violence or some of the cloudy plot elements, this movie can be a reasonably decent watch, especially if you like dark and intense foreign dramas.

it reminds the atmosphere of Imperial Russia. it gives a dark story, fascinating for the game of levels, using good cinematography, remembering Count of Monte Cristo and using a small love story as spice.the result - a beautiful show, not only as aesthetic product but for a story who, out its bloody dimension, remains seductive for the wise manner to mix the Hollywood standards with the Russian tradition. Pyotr Fyodorov did an admirable job and each new meet with Vladimir Mashkov, especially in a role who reminds Vicomte de Valmont from Dangerous liaisons , is a good thing. so, a beautiful film. maybe not at the high expectations of a part of public but decent and seductive.

Saw it at TIFF 2016.

The sets and costumes are great and the story is engrossing, but be warned that this film is *extremely* violent in places. "Onegin" this is not!

Also, when they are speaking German, there is a Soviet-style voice-over instead of subtitles, so you can't actually hear what the actors are saying.

Overall, it was a very interesting experience!

I recommend seeing it if you are at all interested in Russian culture, but sadly this film is likely to be too lowbrow to meet the approval of the art-house crowd.