Sunday 18 August 2019


Filmmakers on film: Kevin Reynolds

Kevin Reynolds on Ridley Scott's The Duellists (1977). Interview by Derren Gilhooley

"THE first film that had a profound impact on me was Doctor Zhivago," says director Kevin Reynolds, himself the veteran of several historical epics including Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Rapa Nui. "I have always admired the way that David Lean could paint these vast tableaux without losing sight of the personal story. But when I came to make my latest film, an adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel The Count of Monte Cristo - which opened in the UK yesterday - I looked at another favourite film of mine, Ridley Scott's The Duellists, which I first saw when it came out, and have since viewed again and again."

Kevin Reynolds, director
Born 1952, San Antonio, Texas
Selected films
Fandango (1985)
The Beast of War (1988)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
Rapa Nui (1994)
Waterworld (1995)
187 (1997)
The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

The Duellists marked Scott's feature film debut in 1977, after nearly a decade of making adverts, which included the classic nostalgic Hovis plug featuring a boy on a delivery bicycle. Adapted from The Duel by Joseph Conrad, it tells the tale of two officers in Napoleon's army and their 30-year quarrel that erupts over the decades in a series of duels. Starring Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine, and exquisitely photographed, it established the Scott hallmarks of striking imagery and the layering of detail that can be seen in later works such as Blade Runner and Gladiator.

"When you come to film a historical, swashbuckling film like this, it strikes me that there are two approaches," says Reynolds. "You can go postmodern, an example of which would be First Knight, or even Baz Luhrmann's version of Romeo and Juliet. Or you can go fantasy, which is the style associated with all of those old Erroll Flynn movies. The problem with both approaches is that they don't have a sense of jeopardy or danger, because they never feel quite real. But The Duellists does feel real, and there is a great deal of jeopardy and tension built into each of the conflicts, which is what I hoped to emulate in my picture.

"Of course," he continues, "Ridley achieves a lot of that realism through incredible production design, and I've been very fortunate to be able to work with the costume designer Tom Rand, who created the costumes for The Duellists. But I think the sense of realism also comes from the incredible central performances."

At the time of The Duellists' release, Carradine and Keitel, part of a new Hollywood generation, were seen as surprising choices for a historical drama. This was particularly true of Brooklyn-born Keitel, who had been establishing himself as a Scorsese stalwart in Mean Streets and Taxi Driver - although in retrospect the film writer David Thomson describes him as having a look that was "superbly of the period".

"There is a temptation in period dramas for the actors to become remote from what they are doing, simply because the clothes, language and some of the attitudes are so different from those of today," says Reynolds. "There is a tendency to overplay or lapse into unnatural gesturing. I suppose you could call it camp. But Carradine and Keitel avoid all that. They move and speak and make what they are doing seem utterly natural and comfortable. They are like real people, almost contemporary people, and after all human behaviour hasn't changed that much in 200 years or so. They feel genuine, and because of that you can suspend your disbelief and allow the sense of danger and jeopardy to creep in.

"The scene that stays with me from that film is a big wide shot - they did most of the shooting in the Dordogne - which begins with the side of a house against the sky. Keitel and Carradine ride up in silence from either side of the screen and dismount. Ridley just holds the shot, it must be 45 seconds long, but you don't realise the time passing, or that two men are meeting to kill each other, because you are so taken with the beauty of the scene. It's a perfect example of how you don't have to have flashiness and movement to make a strong statement.

"I have told Ridley how much I like The Duellists," adds Reynolds. "And he likes my early film The Beast of War. We were having breakfast once to talk about working together on a project, and I eventually said to him, `Ridley, you are so enthusiastic about this idea, I think it would be better if you did it yourself.' The project was Thelma and Louise."

Reynolds believes that Scott's relative inexperience of full-scale movie-making was what energised The Duellists. "There is something enviable about being a first-time director. You have a naivety, and an enthusiasm, which can yield something very fresh and original - you can accomplish amazing things."

But above all, it is his visual sense that makes the film exceptional. "Ridley has such an incredible eye - he is proof that you can go to art school [Scott is an RCA graduate], and you can know all the techniques, but as a film-maker you have got to have an eye, and he has. He is a rare bird indeed."

  • To order 'The Duellists' on VHS for just £5.99 + £1.95 p&p (from Monday), ring Telegraph Entertainment Direct on 0870 161 3344 and quote Telgen.

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