The Duelist (Duelyant) [Sub: Eng]
Return to the nineteenth century in Russia following those bloody wars. A quick look at the life of that retired officer after the end of the war. Yakovlev is the officer who performs many of his maneuvers with his knack and cleverness and intelligence, especially those of the nobles who carry different rituals and laws. A seasoned adventurer is dumped on the ground without fatigue or exhaustion.
27 November 1963, Tula, Tulskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]
1 September 1958, Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Ukraine]
September 3, 1946 in Abakan, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Khakassia, Russia]
21 April 1982, Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]
8 February 1962, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
15 December 1980, Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]
22 May 1977, Volgograd, Volgogradskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]
October 28, 2016
...a swashbuckling, exciting tale.
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.
November 30, 2016
Decidedly retro and spectacular to look at.
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.
December 02, 2016
A welcome indication of the current Russian cinema's commercial ambitions and potential.
December 01, 2016
Dazzles and provokes as it makes little real sense beyond the confines of its hermetic milieu.
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 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.
November 30, 2016
Eye for detail makes The Duelist's protagonists just as compelling as their setting.
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.

