MovieChat Forums > The Duellists (1978) Discussion > D'Hubert + Foot Soldier in Russia?

D'Hubert + Foot Soldier in Russia?


Right after the aborted duel with pistols during the Russian winter, D'Hubert sees a foot soldier or artillaryman, leaning against a cannon wheel, who might still be alive. Next we see the foot soldier sitting up, still covered in snow, with color back in his face. D'Hubert silently walks away. What happened there? Is D'Hubert supposed to seem more human from the encounter?

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The soldier was dead the whole time, frozen solid. I think the change in color is from the filters that were used in the various angle shots. For as good as this film is, the cinematography is less than good, I think. Some of the interior shots were so dark as to render everything invisible, and some of the outdoor shots, such as of Feroud at the end, have a heavy dark filter at the top of the shot. You can squint and say, it's dark clouds, but it looks like the tricks used back in the 40's and 50's to make daytime shots look like nighttime shots.

I think D'Hubert is entirely human and sympathetic throughout the story, and if he seems moreso, it's because of Feroud's persecution of him.

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I just watched this again and was surprised to see how hard he is to his former lover. She states that she is a widow and forced to beg and he instructs her to go back to France. He is in a position to help her with some money but doesn't and it seems pretty harsh to be honest. This was the only jarring note in his decency.

You must be here to fix the cable

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Perhaps, but Laura wasn't exactly the wind beneath D'Hubert's wings either.

It was Laura who wrote "Goodbye" on D'Hubert's sabre and left him flat just before his vicious third duel with Feraud.

I also think that D'Hubert's, "Laura, go back to France...", was more a plea than it was cold instruction. D'Hubert really didn't think he would survive the fourth duel against Feraud on horseback. Had they become involved again beforehand, it would have brought her only more sorrow.

He clearly still had feelings for her, may have been willing to help with money, but she didn't really give him the chance. As soon as Laura saw D'Hubert wasn't going to take her on again, she angrily told him, "This time I hope he kills you!", and then stormed away.


"I told you it was off." The Jackal

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You wrote "...she angrily told him, "This time I hope he kills you!", and then stormed away..."

Sorry, but no, that's NOT what she said. She said, "This time he'll kill you!" Its just her prediction, not her desire, that he will get killed. She says it angrily and storms away because she knows she can't persuade him to stop dueling, not that he had a choice, but she never did understand the code of "honor" that forced him to submit to a duel every few years. She obviously would like him to resign his commission as an officer and rescue her from being a camp follower and virtual prostitute. But he can't do that; he's a nobleman, she's just a common wench, and his life would be ruined; he'd end up worse off, a societal outcast and separated from the only profession he knew, that of a soldier.

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My reply to helenczinege was intended to emphasize that D'Hubert still clearly cared for Laura, that telling her to go back to France was not necessarily "cold instruction", and that Laura hadn't been terribly supportive of D'Hubert during their relationship.

I don't believe that Laura angrily telling him, "This time he'll kill you", and storming off as opposed to, "This time I hope he kills you", was a whole lot more comforting to D'Hubert or make him more likely to give her money.

Nonetheless, I did inadvertantly misquote Laura in a way that would indicate Laura hoped D'Hubert would be killed.


"I told you it was off." The Jackal

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Telling her to go back to France is not harsh; I saw it as sympathetic good advice. She would have been better off returning home, than living as a camp follower in a foreign land. Remember, this is Luebeck in 1806. They are French, invaders in Germany. Though the French triggered an age of reform that liberalized law and society, they also sparked German nationalism, which hadn't really had any form or outlet before that time, beyond the level of the views of the peasants, who hated the French. So as a French woman, following the regiment in Germany, she would have had a tougher time of it, then had she returned to France.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

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The frozen soldier was Feraud's friend who sought out D'Hubert for the second and third duels.


"I told you it was off." The Jackal

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Really? Thanks for that tip, I'll have to watch it again and see if I can recognize him. I missed that; that adds something to the story.

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Enjoy. He's also the soldier who startles the little goose girl at the beginning of the movie.

"I told you it was off." The Jackal

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Maurice Colbourne.

Marlon, Claudia and Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007 and 2010.

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I watched this film again after many years last night and I had to watch it a couple of times as I had doubts.

I think we are actually seeing two scenes/soldiers as the first frozen soldier he looks at is slumped with his back to the wheel.

Then it cuts to Carradine looking at another soldier.

The second soldier is sitting up on his knees away from the cart (I think its a different cart too)and is indeed the friend/lackey of Keitel's character.

I think the first frozen soldier is actually Carradine's duelling partner played by Alun Armstrong. In fact he looks very much like Keitel.

It's hard to tell but would explain why he no longer appears in the film. Plus adds a hint of sadness.

If it is just meant to be Keitels friend Lacourbe in both shots then its a goofy sequence edited from two separate scenes.

As it was a low budget movie that could be the case. "Lets hope no one notices!!"

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They are definitely two distinct scenes.

After the title card of "Russia 1812" we have an image of the devastating cold in Russia during the retreat from Moscow with D'Hubert looking at a frozen Freanch soldier sitting next to a cannon. The dead soldier has his back to the camera so at first we don't see his face. Later in this segement of the story D'Hubert and Feraud have a rare moment of unity teaming up to check a wood that "stinks of Cossacks". They are confronted by some Cossacks while they are standing next to an abandoned carriage also with a frozen French soldier sitting beside it. D'Hubert and Feraud are almost about to start their feud again when they are surprised by the Cossacks and they both discharge their weapons. With a pistol duel now no longer possible Feraud loots the Cossack's body and walks off, ignoring D'Hubert's offer of schnapps. D'Hubert is left alone by the carriage and stares at the frozen French soldier propped up on the carriage. This reminds him of the first frozen soldier that we saw in the earlier scene by the cannon and we discover why it has stuck in his memory as the first soldier was one of his "enemies" the friend of Feraud played by Maurice Colbourne. The second soldier by the carriage/wagon was NOT Lacourbe (played by Alun Armstrong) but just a random soldier which triggered a flashback to the earlier scene.

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This is what also struck me. Its a very curious scene. It took a long time for me to identify that first frozen soldier as Faraud's second from Strasbourg.

The second frozen soldier--I am not sure that it was D'Hubert's friend. But yes, it may have been.

If so--in either case--it really changes the whole character of the latter half of the movie for me. The scenes work well enough on their own; but if they were indeed the former camrades that is something else again. I would like to see if the script bears this out.

Next: someone in this thread comments on poor cinematography. I beg to disagree. The cinematography in this movie is superb. Its one of the primary glories about it. The other being the technical accuracy of the period-isualization.

The filter at the top of the composition in many shots was deliberate and in place for a very good reason; and I think its marvelous.

All that being said; I do think that as great as the photography was--yes; there were indeed some places where some things one would have wished to see clearly; were obscured. Too dark. But this is not due to any of the ambitious goals they were striving for; rather it was due to (i believe) budget and schedule and inability to re-take shots. Some clarity was lost in the interior scenes.

The other aspect is sound. There are many places where the actors words are partially lost or unclear. I've only caught the full sentences in some of the dialog after many, many re-watchings.

Finally: my question is about the Cossack scene. Didn't seem convincing in terms of an actual fight. The group of mounted Cossacks seemed much too far off to be scattered by a couple of pistols. Why did they bolt away like that?

Also why do you think the first (laughing) Cossack let himself be gunned down so easily?






"God rot all 'good men'...."

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I think the laughing Cossack is like D'Hubert, he doesn't want to fight when he feels it's silly to do so. There all basically freezing to death and barely able to move, let alone fight. I feel like the soldier was doing something like "Insteading of fighting in this freezing cold, which is ridiculous, why don't we share some of this food." and he offers some to Faroud. Of course, Faroud feels honor means you always have to fight and so he does. The others run away because they're not in any mood for fighting either. Faroud believes honor means "always kill your enemy, no matter what." D'Hubert is a little more pragmatic. As he says: "More realist than Royalist.

My brother was eaten by wolves on the CT Turnpike

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With respect, I disagree. The Cossack was mocking them. I've tried to find a translation of what exactly the Cossack was saying, but haven't had any success.


"I told you it was off." The Jackal

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I watched it again and your right. I remembered him giving him food but in actuality he spit it at him. I can't explain why someone would approach two armed men, your enemy, and mock them. It's almost as if he wanted them to kill him.

My brother was eaten by wolves on the CT Turnpike

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The way I see it is that the first guy who's face we don't see is Feraud second. Later Carradine see's Alun Armstrong who is frozen which was his own second which causes the flashback to start showing us that the person he was was Feraud's second. This way it comes full circle, as why would he care about remembering Feraud second when there are hundreds of soldiers frozen everywhere?

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Wrong, I'm afraid. See my post below on the thread you started:

No arbino-man, you are entirely mistaken. I have watched this film many, many times. The second French soldier frozen by the cart where D'Hubert (Carradine) and Feraud (Keitel) are surprised by Cossacks is definitely, definitively,100% NOT Lacourbe (D'Hubert's second played by Alun Armstrong). I am a very big fan of that actor's work and know his face well. It is just a random soldier in a similar position which reminds D'Hubert of the scene he has said earlier (and which we had seen at the start of the Russia sequence) and now we discover the first soldier (whose face we did not see at first) was Feraud's second (played by Maurice Colbourne).

I know it is only a minor point but it des not make sense that D'Hubert would walk around that cart and not recognise Lacourbe straight away and then, while pondering looking at his friend would trigger a memory of Feraud's second (instead of, say, memories of times with his friend).The second random soldier was a trigger to flashback to the earlier scene and we finally learn the identity of the first soldier, of whom the viewer might have been thinking, "Was it Chevalier? Was it Lacourbe? No, it was Feraud's second"It was the payoff to the mini mystery of the identity of the first soldier at the beginning of the Russia segment.

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I don't think his mind would have been on the frozen soldier when he first arrived as he was about to duel with Feraud. Once the situation was calm is when he noticed the soldier whom is Lacorbe. His nose looks exactly like Armstrongs, but it's a bit hard to tell it's him as he has a full beard, is frozen over, is wearing a hat, and has his eyes closed. Still, I'm about 99% sure it's him and even if it's not Armstrong I'm pretty sure it's meant to be his character.

Otherwise, why show a flashback of Feraud's second? What would warrant a flashback to the second besides D'Hubert own second being frozen. It shows us how intertwined these characters really are. They may be different, yet are so similar.

It wouldn't make a lick of sense to show Feraud's frozen second otherwise.

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You seem to be obstinate in the face of reason arbino-man. We will have to agree to disagree. You think you are 99% right. I know I am 100% right! ;)

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It works so much better for me on a emotional/sad level if it is Armstrong's character.

If it's just some random soldier it just doesn't have the sadness and impact.

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Read the thread titled "Two scenes in particular I really loved", we go into it some there. The one sitting against the wheel was alive, watch his eyelids (Ridley is a perfectionist, he would not have let that stay in unless he wanted it in), he's one of Feraud's men and the other one was the man who confronted the goose girl in the lane at the first duel, Feraud's Second in the first couple of duels.

Both were Feraud's men, positioned out there earlier that morning, and d'Hubert was led precisely to that spot by Feraud, like a lamb to the slaughter.

Feraud had his pistols down and at the ready, d'H's were propped across his shoulders, out of position for firing. And since he'd been led out of vision of the rest of the squad, behind the wagon, he could have said anything had happened. I believe he was mad enough to do it.

He was the one obsessing over this for a decade so far, he wanted an end to d'H no matter what! And the only thing that saved d'H was the Russian on horseback appearing when he did.

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Feraud had his pistols down and at the ready, d'H's were propped across his shoulders, out of position for firing. And since he'd been led out of vision of the rest of the squad, behind the wagon, he could have said anything had happened. I believe he was mad enough to do it.


Feraud was indeed a nutjob, but I don't think he wanted to end d'Hubert's life that way, he wanted to kill him in a fair fight. That meant something to Feraud, he was obsessed to the point of being nearly insane, but he wasnt just a mad dog murderer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24MZcKtps1w

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