The Duelist

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The Duelist

R

2016

1h 49m

History

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

43%

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14 Reviews

69%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

In 19th-century Saint Petersburg, a retired officer returns from exile and takes up arms as a duelist's representative for hire.

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Godfrey Cheshire

RogerEbert.com

A welcome indication of the current Russian cinema's commercial ambitions and potential.

Rated: 3/4

Dec 2, 2016

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Glenn Kenny

New York Times

The clichéd story line pursues turgidity with a relentless determination.

Dec 1, 2016

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Gary Goldstein

Los Angeles Times

Dazzles and provokes as it makes little real sense beyond the confines of its hermetic milieu.

Dec 1, 2016

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Tomas Trussow

Film Inquiry

I didn't care much for its grandiose self-seriousness and the dour focus on masculine honor above all else.

Mar 1, 2019

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Brogan Morris

We Got This Covered

Gorgeously empty, The Duelist is more interesting as a reflection of the Russian sociopolitical climate today than it is as an actual goddamn movie.

Rated: 4/10

Dec 3, 2016

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Jeffrey Edalatpour

SF Weekly

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.

Dec 1, 2016

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Ivan I

Pretty interesting thing

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/08/23

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Frances H

As a historian and a period film lover, I thought this flick was excellent--tight plot that really expresses the excessiveness of the nobleman't displaced sense of honor in a world that is moving from the Middle Ages mores to an industrial society where the noble class just no longer has a real purpose and is floundering. Gorgeous production values and costuming make this a joy to watch, as does the darkly brooding Fedorov. Loved it!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

05/11/19

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Audience Member

Malgré quelque bonnes idées et le fait que The Duelist est un autre exemple du nouveau savoir-faire russe en matière de cinéma, le film tend à perdre en efficacité surtout vers la fin du récit. On pourras par contre tout de même apprécier l'esthétique du film.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Audience Member

I watched it- it's all dressed up with no place to go. Beautifully mounted but the acting is so stilted you could put wheels under the cast and wheel it anywhere. Vlad, Yuri, and Pyotr stand out but are lost in the endless of rain deluge that pervades the entire picture.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Audience Member

Much much better than the critics rated it. Great movie!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/18/17

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Audience Member

I really liked this movie. A dark history of revenge with dark characters in a dark environment, a dark adventure set in a time when Russian aristocracy was already rotten inside. The thing I enjoyed the most is that it is a very different adventure to the "good guys" vs "bad guys" so loved by Hollywood. In this sense, this is quite literally a movie on the conflict between a murderer and a very bad man.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

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Aleksey Mizgirev

Director

Pyotr Fyodorov

Yakovlev

Vladimir Mashkov

Graf Beklemishev

Yuliya Khlynina

Marfa Tuchkova

Yuri Kolokolnikov

Basargin

Aleksandr Mizev

Ofitser-yuremshchik

Duelyant: Russian Trailer 1

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Synopsis

In 19th-century Saint Petersburg, a retired officer returns from exile and takes up arms as a duelist's representative for hire.

Director: Aleksey Mizgirev
Producer: Alexander Rodnyansky, Sergei Melkumov
Screenwriter: Aleksey Mizgirev
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures, Fetisoff Illusion Europe, Non-Stop Productions
Rating: R (Some Sexuality/Nudity|Strong Violence)
Genre: History, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Russian
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 2, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 18, 2017
Runtime: 1h 49m

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