80
Screen Daily by Wendy Ide
Despite some pacing issues and a slightly repetitive second act, this is a polished production which establishes writer/director Aleksei Mizgirev as a talent to watch
The Duelist (Дуэлянт)
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- Russia
- 2016
- · 110m
Director
Alexey Mizgirev
Cast
Pyotr Fyodorov,
Vladimir Mashkov,
Franziska Petri,
Martin Wuttke,
Sergey Garmash
Genre
Action,
Adventure,
Drama
Yakolev, a retired military official, returns to 19th-century St. Petersburg from a long exile and begins working as a deulist's representative. A skilled gunman, he is paid to fight--and win--other people's battles for them. As he develops feelings for the beautiful Princess Martha, the ruthless mercenary is forced to choose between honor and love.
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What are critics saying?
80
Screen International by Wendy Ide
Despite some pacing issues and a slightly repetitive second act, this is a polished production which establishes writer/director Aleksei Mizgirev as a talent to watch
75
RogerEbert.com by Godfrey Cheshire
With The Duelist, Rodnyansky is taking a more commercial turn, one that depends less on art-house refinements than on plush production values, action-movie tropes and a couple of stellar lead performances.
70
Village Voice by Simon Abrams
What's most arresting is the way Mizgirev's vision of 1860s Russia shines through in the perspiration on Champagne goblets, the flicker of candlelight on faces, and the sheen of polished-steel dueling pistols.
70
Los Angeles Times by Gary Goldstein
The sumptuously shot, costumed, designed and scored Russian import The Duelist dazzles and provokes as it makes little real sense beyond the confines of its hermetic milieu.
63
Philadelphia Inquirer by Tirdad Derakhshani
The film is too formulaic and far too prone to melodrama, with outsize emotions as ridiculous as its comic-book villains.
58
The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
The premise of intrigue and revenge in a high-society Tsarist underworld is irresistible and pulpy, but Mizgirev’s script is an indigestible, soap-operatic mess of backstories, clichés, and the kind of ambiguous mystic overtones that have become an unbreakable addiction for Russian film.
50
Arizona Republic by Bill Goodykoontz
It’s so ridiculously overstuffed it’s kind of fun. That extends to, or perhaps begins with, the look of the film. It’s rich, overripe, yet still kind of seedy.
40
We Got This Covered
The Duelist isn’t deep enough for the viewer to attempt to draw meaning from beneath its glam surface, but it’s still interesting to watch the film as a look at where Russia is at as a nation.
37
Washington Post by Stephanie Merry
The Duelist will leave viewers scratching their heads over any number of questions, but the most gnawing one might be: Why did everyone get so dressed up for a bloodbath?
30
The New York Times by Glenn Kenny
The clichéd story line pursues turgidity with a relentless determination.
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