Sheer Beauty
No words necessary
The Little Emperor
This is easily my favorite find from the entire film and largely because, to me, it adds something to the film I wouldn’t have otherwise thought of whereas the majority of the items I’ve detailed so far as largely aesthetic or bits of “making-of” information.
In his conversation with Kevin Reynolds, Scott discusses his intentions with the scene I’ve previewed above, and after watching the film I also went over to IMDb and read the following paragraph from the site’s full synopsis in which the final scene is described as such:
The final scene shows Feraud, from the back, standing on a bluff overlooking the Dordogne River winding through the beautiful valley below. He stands wearing a two-pointed cocked hat and a long black, straight military capote, reminiscent of his Emperor’s portraits on the Island of St. Helena – could it be “le petit caporal” (the little corporal), the Emperor himself, humiliated and defeated? It is the “end of the road” for Feraud: finally at peace, as he meditates on what has been his life.
Scott references a painting of Napoleon as well and I wasn’t entirely sure what painting they were referring to, but it wasn’t long before I found it…
The image Scott describes is a bit different, though I have to assume it’s just his memory messing with him as the above painting of Napoleon exiled on the island of St. Helena by Francois-Joseph Sandmann is so absolutely spot on compared to what Scott ended up with it’s uncanny. And, interestingly enough, it was all achieved on the first take as fate decided the perfect shot would be had.
It had been one of the shoot’s several rainy days, but there was an inkling the sun may begin to peek out and, despite the fact Keitel gets vertigo, they were able to urge him close enough to the 700-foot high cliff to get the shot.
The image, thanks to the rains, resulted in what are actually flooded fields in the distance and, just as they were in the middle of the shot, the sun, fortuitously, began peeking out from behind the clouds. Scott directed Keitel to turn to his right and then back to center before tracking back. It’s a magnificent finale and the comparison to Napoleon and his exile makes the scene and the film that much richer.
You can watch the final scene in its entirety directly below.
I never expected to get as much out of watching one film as I did watching this one. While I won’t necessarily call The Duellists a great film, for a feature directorial debut it is certainly an eye-opener and it comes as absolutely no surprise Scott has become the director he is today.
From The Duellists he went on to direct Alien in 1979 and Blade Runner in 1982 and he hasn’t looked back. Personally I’m a huge fan and watching this film and learning Scott had these skills this early in his career will have me looking at the rest of his films far more closely going forward.
