The Duelist

"The Duelist" turned out unexpectedly engaging to me. Dark, bloody, yet beautiful. The dark side of honor and the dark side of beauty.

Not historically accurate, yet very, very immersive. Most technical details are plain false. But that aura of Russian Grand Society feels so much true, so natural!

The best definition I could find for this movie is "Noir, transferred into the XIX-th century, Saint-Petersburg, Russia". There's much in common, really. Blood, death, wounds, tortures, nudity... plenty of this. As well as desperation, infamy, cruelty, scheming, femme fatale. Everything you can find in a typical noir. Only the place would be the capital of Russian Empire. Vast palaces, dirty streets, crowded soirees, the shade of the Royal Family, officers, nobles... and the duels!

A rare gem of late Russian cinema, really. Truly underrated.

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.

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.

I don't have nothing to add. It is absolutely amazing movie.

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.