Das Duell der Meister

How many films are about fencing? Very very few. The Princess Bride, Three Musketeers and Zorro, etc. are often listed as such but that is not fencing. That is sword fighting. This film is about sport fencing. It is set in a real fencing club or salle, with the old school roll up grounded strips circa early 70's and includes many scenes of fencing, including group and individual lessons along with electric epee fencing. In addition, there are scenes of the armory room and the rows of stored weapons in the club. If you are looking for a film loaded with fencing, this is really it.

Sure, the fencing leaves something to be desired and the acting varies especially among the student fencers. The fencing in the movie is fairly realistic. Fencing now is more wild, faster and athletic. But nearly 30 years ago it was more controlled which is shown in the bouts. Eric Roberts, a non-fencer, does a pretty good job anyhow even mixing French commands with English in his lessons. F. Murray Abraham, who is in really good shape in this film, also impresses during a few scene where he is taking a saber lesson and epee fencing. There are a few hokey scenes and two love stories tacked on, one of which is used to help show how one how the maestro, a former champion, is grooming his top student to become like him - driven to win at all costs with no feelings for others. The brutality of Roberts during his lessons with his top students - he often wacks them with the side of his weapon's blade when they foul up - is not unheard of. This was very commonly done among the old European coaches to their students. Corporal punishment for mistakes during a lesson got the point across quickly to the students.

The fencing equipment and uniforms are correct. F. Murray's fencing outfit is a bit dated. He wears an old school waste length (pre electric scoring) saber jacket, a really old Castello or Santelli mask and brown knickers. But he does get it done. There is a funny scene if you catch it. When F. Murray is shown crossing the busy NYC street to go to work a the salle as the janitor, he is carrying a blue Adidas shoe-box. Thereafter he is shown wearing the very old style Adidas fencing shoes in nearly every scene, even while he is just the janitor in the club and later when he is coaching the new students.

It is a bit predictable with the final fight scene, but it ends well. If you want a movie that is about the sport of fencing and a lot of it. this is about your only choice. There is the foreign movie The Fencer that came out a couple years ago. Have not seen it.

Hey, so the fencing is a bit hokey. The movie is "not" about fencing, if it were we would all be asleep in 10 minutes. I have fenced on and off for over 30 years so I know a little bit about it. I would rather watch something like this than any fencing bout ever put on. So all you purists out there, lighten up. Like the movie for what it is, don't dis-like it for what it isn't. The story was not about fencing, the fencing was only a backdrop to the story.

There is not blood in this movie. The title of my comment has to do with the fact that, were it not for the blood, any contemporary Olympic style fencer could beat the tar out of a 16th or 17th Century duellist. The skills of a contemporary fencer are unmatchable; but the will to kill is something you cannot pick up in a fencing salle.

This difference plays a role in the story, as characters come to grips with their personal traumas and inner demons. The original movie One-Sheet is informative for the Spartan purity of its text:

.......By The Sword......

Live by it ..... Die by it .....

The folks who pule and whine about the "safety" issues in this film are as confoundingly ignorant of the definition of "metaphor" as are the historical purists who insist on mewling about the Russian roulette sequence in "Deer Hunter." This is not a documentary, so it simply beggars the imagination why anyone would be so ruthlessly misguided as to hold it up to documentary standards of factual accuracy.

This movie is a classic morality tale -- and a nicely crafted one at that -- told within the strictures of a fencing salle. Abrams and Roberts give fine performances, while Mia Sara, Chris Rydell, Elaine Kagan and others provide good support. The movie, for all of its obvious mythological framework, offers some nice insights into the reality of fencing. For example, when was the last time you saw an Errol Flynn movie devote so much attention to the *footwork* of sword play? (And for you non-fencers out there, here is a clue: fencing is *ALL* in the footwork; the sword is just there to let the other person know that they lost the bout.) At the level of world-class competition, the differences between life/death and win/lose engagements blur; personal trauma can blur them even more. It is only in confronting our demons that the distinctions return to us, and the genuinely meaningful things in life can be regained. That is why this film is a morality tale.

Filmatically, the cinematography bears some attention: so many subtle hues of brown that pop out rather than disappear under the surface. Bill Conti's score, particularly as it emphasizes classical guitar, is a joy all by itself. The images of stair-cases and the allegory of Jacob's Ladder appear throughout.

This movie fascinated me from the very beginning. It revolves around the sport of fencing, but the plot has little to do with fencing and more to do with crime & punishment, retribution and forgiveness, and the meaning of success. Eric Roberts plays a skilled but haughty owner of a fencing school, just like his dear old (deceased) dad. F. Murray Abraham is the mystery man, who is apparently making a new start in a new town and who applies to be a fencing teacher at the school. Although Roberts quickly discerns that Abraham is not "up to snuff" for a teacher and hires him as a janitor, Roberts fails to recognize the inevitable result of years away from a sport that requires daily attention. Over the course of the film, Roberts & Abraham flesh out their characters nicely as the viewer discovers who Abraham really is while watching Roberts' character discover himself and finally learn a lesson that was stunted by tragedy in his boyhood. Like any movie about a sport, I'm sure there were fencing "flaws," but it was believable enough to me to make watching it intriguing (and sometimes tiring!). There's quite a lot of action for this movie that only has 3 sets, too! Get a bag of popcorn and settle in for a good flick.

Okay, so some scenes in this film might make a fencer cringe, but for the average viewer there is good entertainment to be had here. The central characters do the job required to keep the action going, although Eric Roberts character is somewhat of a cardboard cutout. The script allows for little character development for his fencing master portrayal, and I suspect he has simply done exactly what the director asked. The fencing scenes are decent action,with some interesting swordplay in foreground while mental fencing goes on between the characters. The plot is fairly simple, and some of the developments in the plot do seem to a little unsubstantiated. But this is not a film to make you cry or think deeply. It is good, simple, entertainment. Watch with an open mind, and enjoy a bit of fun.