Flick Pick: The Duellists

The Duellists
(Paramount, 1977)

Made on a budget that was essentially credit cards, this is quite possibly one of the most visually beautiful motion pictures ever shot. It was directed by a novice director and well-trained art designer named Ridley Scott, whose use of shadow, light, color, and composition throughout this movie is so vivid and masterful that every frame looks as though it were painted there, or could be. It also features a hauntingly melancholy score, exquisite period detail of the Napoleonic era military customs and costume, and flawless character studies by the two lead actors, a pair of early-career relative novices named Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine. Not to see this movie is to do yourself a notable disservice.