Anton Chekhov's The Duel (2010)
Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 37
Fresh: 30 | Rotten: 7
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 17
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 301
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Movie Info
Save Shakespeare, Chekhov is the literary giant whose work is most frequently adapted for the screen. Based on his eponymous 1891 novella, THE DUEL gives life to a classic Chekhovian tale: the young ne'er-do-well aristocrat vs. the arrogant man of science; the attraction of a manipulative, narcissistic mistress vs. the life of the mind and of principled action. Gambling, alcohol and flirtations consummated in an impossibly beautiful countryside hold obvious attractions for Laevsky. But he's
Apr 28, 2010 Limited
May 24, 2011
Independent Pictures
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Cast
-
Andrew Scott
Laevsky -
Fiona Glascott
Nadya -
Tobias Menzies
Von Koren -
Niall Buggy
Samoylenko -
Michelle Fairley
Marya -
Jeremy Swift
Deacon -
Nicolas Rowe
Sheshkovsky -
Debbie Chazen
Olga -
Rik Makarem
Atchmianov -
Simon Trinder
Postal Superintendan... -
Graham Turner
Atchmianov Senior -
Alistair Cameron
Ustimovitch -
Mislav Cavajda
Kirilin -
Matija Jaksekovic
Officer 1 -
Alan Katic
Officer 2 -
Boris Bakal
Clerk -
Tvrtko Juric
Mustapha -
Goran Vrbanic
Fyodor -
Milan Banjanin
Shopkeep -
Tomislav Kozic
Govorosky -
Mario Kozic
Boyko -
Ilya Sarossy
Ilyana -
Geraldine O'Rawe
Ilyana's Mother -
Nina Serdarevic
Katya -
Maya Kosashvili
Woman with Baby -
Medea Kosashvili
Woman with Baby -
Juraj Krsevan Dovran...
Dmitri -
Sreten Mokrovic
Nikodim -
Juliana Overmeer
Lady with the Lapdog -
Douglas Ellis
Promenading Family -
Mary Bing
Promenading Family -
Lucy Grace Ellis
Promenading Family -
Anton Ellis
Promenading Family -
Neven Jercel
Tatar Horseman/Mount... -
Mladen Vulic
Kerbalay -
Franka Gulin
Blind Masseuse -
Dubravko Vusak
Organ Grinder -
Tea Matanovic
Lovely Young Woman -
Marijana Mikulic
Lovely Young Woman -
Igor Staki Sestric
Stevedore -
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All Critics (40) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (7)
You want bite. But the movie's teeth are locked behind the dramatic equivalent of a retainer.
Top CriticMuch of what is spelled out in the book is artfully condensed for the film, which was shot in Croatia and is pretty enough to double as a tourist lure.
It somehow isn't as exciting as a duel over a woman should be. If you're not well rested before entering the theater, it could put you under.
Chekhov's stories and plays often vibrate in that zone where comedy and tragedy are indistinguishable. And so it is with this movie.
If you see this movie, it will give you more pleasure and more to think about than any of the more popular entries currently out there.
The setting of the title event is spectacular, and the photography is wonderful. In places the movie seems as lazy as Laevsky. But Chekhov's story provides a lot to chew on.
...perhaps most impressively, Kosashvili gets the delicate falling ending of short fiction that is so hard to achieve on screen.
Irish actor Andrew Scott is excellent as the deceitful, snivelling scoundrel whose habit of taking advantage of the good graces of others hits its limit.
It's a strange but compelling story in which indolence and dissolution are confronted in a life or death moment.
A lush and loyal adaptation of Chekhov's novella, which nails the atmosphere and features brilliant performance all round.
It would be easy to say that the film was undone by its obviously minuscule budget, reflected in daft costume and art direction, but when the basics of good storytelling are missing, it's far easier to be nit-picky.
Once you get used to this distraction [of the English cast in 19th century Russian setting] the handsome production takes on its own sensibilities
Israeli filmmaker Dover Kosashvili approaches the Russian writer's novella with a mix of kid gloves and assured know-how, by way of screenwriter Mary Bing.
The Duel challenges the audience to watch it; but with unlikeable characters and a tedious pace you may just want to put your gun up to your own mouth and end the misery.
Starts of slow but builds gradually into a captivating tale of escalating mania.
It serves the original source material well, and gives the audience much to ponder after the shots have been fired.
A compassionate picture -- lovely to look at, too -- but it never achieves any real immediacy, or urgency, even with the title's pistol-waving.
They're working with a classic novella with The Duel, so they treat it with the same reverence and protectiveness that one might devote to a first child. In the process, they almost smother their well-intended creation to death.
Screenwriter Mary Bing and director Dover Koshashvili seem baffled about what they're trying to say here.
The Best Film You Almost Certainly Won't See of 2010.
blessed with a superb cast in perfect synch with Chekhov's sensibilities, rendering this a lush, literate film in which . . . the intricacies of human relationships are as heart-stopping as a high-speed car chase
Audience Reviews for Anton Chekhov's The Duel
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Director: Dover Koshashvili
Summary: Chekhov's psychological insights and piercing humor illuminate the screen in this beautifully filmed drama about Laevsky (Andrew Scott), a narcissistic civil servant whose impetuous decision to leave his married mistress, Nadya (Fiona Glascott), sparks shocking reverberations. Pragmatic scientist Von Koren (Tobias Menzies), outraged by Laevsky's thoughtlessness, challenges him to a duel, and the trio's emotional entanglements overwhelm them.
My Thoughts: "Laevsky is very self loathing and seems to be dealing, or I should say not dealing, with his personal demons and his many regrets. He has turned to gambling and alcohol to help him cope with Nadya, his mistress, a married woman. 'The Duel', is such a small part of the film that when it is brought to light is when you remember that is the title of the film. I think this is one of those films that is better on paper then on screen. It just didn't flow very well and some parts where never explained. I guess reading the book before watching the film would help better explain some of the scenes in the film. The movie was funny in some parts and wasn't completely a bore. I enjoyed the scenery in the film and great costumes. But the story just didn't do it for me."
Super Reviewer
With its deliberate pace and excellent cinematography, "The Duel" is an evocative movie that bottles one point in time, allowing us to observe it at our leisure. But then time is never entirely static as the people along with the social mores of the era are evolving however slowly. Also this serves as a valuable reminder that lovers and spouses are two separate categories of people but that does not mean they cannot be loved in the same ways. And who knew a movie based on a work by Anton Chekhov could be so darn sexy?
Super Reviewer
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Everything worth loving about Chekhov - the subtlety, the well-drawn characters, the crises of conscience - is here and filmed beautifully. I especially liked the performance by Andrew Scott as Vanya who performs a scene that is described in the script as "hysterics," but I think the best phrase is an "existential paroxysm." The Duel is a film built on subtext, and it takes a sharp, discerning eye to appreciate why the characters behave as they do, each action sharply motivated.
I thought that the subplot of Vanya's financial difficulties was never resolved, but I suspect that an apologia for this film would suggest that larger existential issues over-weighed money; it's true, but a commitment to solving all his problems would not have been hard to show.
Overall, Anton Chekhov is one of world literature's great writers, and The Duel displays all the great aspects of his work.