What started the first duel -- I forgot?
Was it just me or did anyone else want to kick Keitel's character in the teeth?
Keitl did. He accused the other of insulting him when he was only a courier from a superior officer. Keitl's character is indeed a complete jerk.
shareActually no. The first duel was -according to the original J. Conrad's short story- Feraud against a civilian and it goes mostly unexplained, other than along the book it is mentioned that Feraud is the son of a blacksmith who has risen through the ranks and has an inferiority complex that propells him against better born men. Napoleon, being a commoner himself felt very strongly against aristocrats as well. In the movie, the opening duel is fought by Feraud against the Strasbourg (in the Alsace, the German speaking part of France) Mayor, allegedly for the latter expressing a despising opinion about Bonaparte.
Feraud takes against D'Hubert that he removed him in a demeaning manner from Mme. De Lion's place and that D'Hubert is -in Feraud's words- the General's pet. That's the base for the second duel --first between the two protagonists.
Get the short story from Project Gutemberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2305
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Tom Conti's doctor at one point explains the three situations that would prevent a duel:
1. distance - physical impossibility
2. difference in rank - breach of military etiquette
3. if the state is at war - "Duels of nations take absolute precedence".
Therefore - "Keep away from him. Keep ahead of him. Put your trust in Bonaparte".
That's why the duels, excepting the scene in the Russian snows, took place at times when the French army was not on campaign.
D'Hubert's commander at one point also remarks that he can order d'Hubert to cease being a quarrelsome idiot because he is being promoted and would therefore outrank Feraud.
Also, in the scene in the tavern where d'Hubert tries and fails to sneak out before Feraud spots him, he asks his friend Feraud's rank and explains that he will soon be promoted again so if he can avoid Feraud that night, he can avoid having to fight him again.
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I thought they didn't fight each other in the snow in Russia. In fact Harvey Keitel saves Keith Carradine's life in this scene.
Interestingly it's Keith Carradine who says "Next time we fight with pistols.". So perhaps he'd already had a plan to defeat Harvey Keitel without actually killing him.
>>I thought they didn't fight each other in the snow in Russia. In fact Harvey Keitel saves Keith Carradine's life in this scene.
You are correct, they don't fight in this scene. However, once the Cossacks they encountered are defeated, there is a tense moment when it appears that Keitel's character may choose to press the issue regardless. It's when he does not - bound, as ever, by the rules governing 'honorable conduct' - that Carradine suggests "pistols next time". I've always taken that line to be as close to a joke as could be mustered under the circumstances, though it does later prove prophetic...
Nobody remembers? D'hubert called Ferrraud an "ape."
shareDuelling within the army might have been a capital offence when the country was at war. It's stated in the film that duelling is forbidden when the country is at war. "Duel's between nations take precedent over duals between individuals."
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