MovieChat Forums > The Duellists (1978) Discussion > Based On True Story!

Based On True Story!

posted 15 years ago by ergomane
14 replies | jump to latest

I checked the Wikipedia and noticed, that the story is actually based on real story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Duellists#Historical_basis

The Conrad short story evidently has its genesis in the real duels that two French Hussar officers fought in the Napoleonic era. Their names were Dupont and Fournier, whom Conrad disguised slightly, changing Dupont into D'Hubert and Fournier into Féraud.

As a young officer in Napoleon's Army, Dupont was ordered to deliver a disagreeable message to a fellow officer, Fournier, a rabid duellist. Fournier, taking out his subsequent rage on the messenger, challenged Dupont to a duel. This sparked a succession of encounters, waged with sword and pistol, that spanned decades. The contest was eventually resolved when Dupont was able to overcome Fournier in a pistol duel, forcing him to promise never to bother him again.

They fought their first duel in 1794 from which Fournier demanded a rematch. This rematch resulted in at least another 30 duels over the next 19 years in which the two officers fought mounted, on foot, with swords, rapiers, and sabres.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] grendelkhan 15 years ago

And ignorance rears its pathetic head. Heaven forbid someone should actually occupy their time in pursuit of knowledge. Let's all condemn those that read from encyclopedias, even suspect on-line versions, rather then spend their time on mindless endeavors! Hear, hear!

[–] gayspiritwarrior 15 years ago

Hear, hear!

"The value of an idea has nothing to do with the honesty of the man expressing it."--Oscar Wilde

[–] steward1 12 years ago

If you listen to the directors commentary of the film, it was shot primarily in the region these 2 men were based in. And the town mayor produced a lot of original source material for Ridley to look at. And History can indeed be as interesting as fiction, sometimes more. I cite 1776 as an example.

[–] james-337 13 years ago

What a totally pathetic, immature response. Hooray for ignorant idiots!!!

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] james-337 13 years ago

So, you don't think trolling, if trolling it was, is just as immature? Hmm. Interesting. That says something about you, I think!

[–] enneagram4 12 years ago

Go away, smug wanker

[–] praxagora 15 years ago

Fascinating.
Thanks for posting the background info - I found it very interesting.

[–] MovieBro 15 years ago

Great info. This is one of my favorite all time period movies.

Dori Lawrence: Let's build a kingdom with our suckiness.

[–] the_critical_mass 15 years ago

Good research. But, are there any other sources of this rather than Wikipedia? Wikipedia isn't exactly a 100% scholastic source.

[–] suntonova 14 years ago

If anyone would actually bother to go to the Wikipedia link provided in the OP, they'd find that the quoted passage originally comes from, The Encyclopedia of the Sword, by Nick Evangelista.

[–] pe81171 14 years ago

Here is a link to the original Conrad story:

http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/2481/

Very fascinating and interesting to compare with the film version.

Frank: Just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race.

[–] joscco 14 years ago

I hate to say it because the Duellists is my favorite film of all time, but the story may or may not be based on fact. An excellent discussion on whether the movie is factually based can be found (paradoxically) at the website Axis History.com:

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=28408&p=1320715

My own take after reading the above thread is that Ridley Scott made a fantastic movie out of a fictional story created by Conrad.