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# Ridley Scott’s 1977 debut film “The Duellists” about a feud between two lieutenants
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/pervyi-film-ridli-skota-duelianty-1977-goda-poluchil-priz-za-luchshii-polnometrazhnyi-debiut-kannskogo-festivalia/
- Published: 2021-12-20T19:09:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:55:12.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Cinema

Ridley Scott's first film, The Duellists (1977), won the prize for best first feature at the Cannes Film Festival. This tense picture, set against a historical backdrop, is devoted to the unexpected combat of two lieutenants. A confirmed duellist and quite simply a thoroughly disagreeable fellow is ready to poison the life of an officer, full of dignity and a sense of duty, who has happened to cross his path. Against the background of the Napoleonic wars there unfolds the personal drama of two men: a volatile braggart, who professionally dispatches people to the next world in order to soothe a sick vanity and a damaged psyche, and his opponent, simply an honest man, who once did his duty and thereby failed to please a hot-tempered madman. The duel, of which the whole army speaks, a confrontation that has become legend, perplexes the witnesses: what started this feud, and how soon will it end in somebody's death? A deep and gripping film, it makes one reconsider old conflicts and may help you make peace with those who have wronged you. Unreservedly recommended.

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_5654@20-12-2021_22-09-58.jpg)