"Duelling Films" Topic

"Dueling had no set rules in the sixteenth century, Tavernier informs us in his commentary to La princesse de Montpensier. The Duellists and Tomorrow at Dawn, the one set during the Napoleonic Wars and the second in modern-day France among Napoleonic re-enactors, are firmly ensconced within the codes of honor that came to regulate such encounters. Against the real, gruesome and uncontrollable violence of warfare, men were able to settle their real or imagined grievances according to a set scenario whose outcome, of course, remained uncertain. The escalating cycle of violence between these combatants, like that among nations, had to end somehow. Both films, although set in different eras, address this question and ask us to think about our atavistic impulses and how past and present cultures handle them. In doing so, the films take us beyond the Napoleonic era to engage students on multiple levels and stimulate broad-ranging discussions, ones that could cover anything from historical accuracy to role playing video games…"
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