Covering Media

Fiona Glascott as Nadya in ANTON CHEKHOV'S THE DUEL. Directed by Dover Kosashvili. Photo by Paul Sarossy. A High Line Pictures release.

The Duel (2009/2010)

Also Known As: Anton Chekhov's The Duel

Opened: 04/28/2010 Limited

Trailer: Click for trailer

Genre: Drama

Rated: Unrated

Short Synopsis

The New York Times Critics' Pick ANTON CHEKHOV'S "THE DUEL" breathes new life into a classic Chekhovian tale. Working with the master cinematographer Paul Sarossy (The Sweet Hereafter), director Dover Kosashvili (Late Marriage) has made a gorgeously cinematic and accessible movie that is sensuous, passionate, dramatic and peppered with delightful moments of levity inherent to the great novella. Set in a seaside resort in the Caucasus, the story centers on n'er do well, Laevsky (Andrew Scott) and his illicit relationship with his mistress Nadya (Fiona Glascott). Laevsky has convinced Nadya to leave her husband for him, but now wants to abandon her. A brilliant ensemble cast of British and Irish actors strikes just the right balance. "The performances are excellent all around, with Andrew Scott mesmerizing and the gorgeous Fiona Glascott making vividly clear why her character drives all men to distraction." (Hollywood Reporter) "Adultery, betrayal, blackbail, drunken antics...the most successful literary adaptation I've seen since...Lady Chatterley." (The Village Voice)

Long Synopsis

Laevsky has fled to the Black Sea with his married mistress, Nadya. Though they had imagined a free "modern" life together, working the land, instead he's lapsed into dissolution, charming the townspeople into cards and drinking. Worse, he's fallen out of love. When Laevsky receives a Letter with news that Nadya's husband has died, he no longer has any excuse not to marry her. Yet all he wants to do is escape...

Laevsky hides the news from her, but tells the older town doctor, Samoylenko. This gruff, sympathetic friend counsels marriage, but Laevsky delays. Beautiful Nadya, as bored as her lover, faces trouble of her own. She visits her favorite hat shop, where she flirts with the milliner's son, At chmianov. His creepy, suggestive father proposes there may be interesting ways for her to make payment on her debt...

Nadya distracts herself at the seaside, where her friend Marya, a proper townslady, tries to protect her daughter Katya from Nadya's unabashed nudity in the bathhouse. Laevsky's friend, town rake Sheshovsky, consoles him with liquor. Stuck in the gorgeous, provincial town, the men promenade with their odd mate, the post al superintendent, and have words with Von Koren, a zoologist, who criticizes them for not working.

Von Koren is right: Laevsky is a champion idler. Back in his squalid home, Laevsky lounges while their slatternly, distracted servant Olga prepares lunch. Nadya is delayed in town by Police Captain Kirilin, sinister in his authority, who reminds her of their flirtation, an error in judgment she'd rather forget.

Von Koren, at lunch with his mute sidekick Deacon and Samoylenko, expounds his criticism of Laevsky, including proto-Fascist opinions that such useless people should be exterminated. Laevsky and Nadya have their own stifled, petulant lunch. Bored and frustrated, they fall into their old game of rough sex, the only place their mutual criticisms fall away into pleasure. Yet the Letter weighs on Laevsky...

All gather for a carriage outing to the mountains the next day. Gloomy Laevsky has words with hostile Von Koren. Bubbly Nadya fails to charm Laevsky, who tries and fails to give her the news. At the picnic, both Kirilin and Atchmianov pursue Nadya. Kirilin turns ugly, demanding payment on her flirtation.

The couple, preoccupied by their pressures, drink too much around the campfire, and Nadya foolishly gambols with Atchmianov. Hoping to pacify Von Koren, Laevsky reprimands her, shaming her in front of the gathered company. Back home, disgusted, he gives her the letter and then abandons her to her anguished guilt: "I've been a terrible sinner!"

Laevsky races to Samoylenko's to borrow money to get out of town. Starchy Marya pays a visit to Nadya, encouraging her to be married with haste. Nadya resists such virtue, and Marya is horrified at her imprudence. Nadya, now hopeless about her future, breaks down.

Laevsky, returning from gambling, comes upon a delirious Nadya. Laevsky calls for the doctor, and pressures Samoylenko for money. Desperate and overextended, Samoylenko turns to Von Koren. Von Koren calls the doctor on his morals: how can Samoylenko support a cad who intends to abandon the very woman he has ruined? Von Koren lends him money, on the condition that he insist on Laevsky's taking Nadya with him.

While Von Koren's confidence and arrogance increases, Laevsky digs his hole deeper, losing more money at cards. He returns home a drunken mess, and sexually humiliates Nadya in front of their maid.

At a formal party at Marya's, Nadya struggles to be proper, serving the gentlemen, even as Atchmianov harasses her for an assignation that night. Laevsky recklessly corners Samoylenko for money, while Von Koren's observes the couple's desperation. The moral vise closes in on Laevsky: Samoylenko sets his condition about bringing Nadya, and Marya confronts Laevsky about marrying her. Laevsky escapes into cards, but when he loses at Twenty-One to Marya's young son, he collapses into nervous breakdown. Sobbing and barking like a dog, Laevsky is dragged away by Samoylenko.

Later, a chastened Laevsky apologizes to Nadya. Shakily, they join the party for an evening promenade, but Laevsky soon heads off with his friends, leaving Nadya vulnerable and in the grip of Kirilin. Threatening a scandal, the Police Captain insists her coming with him that night and the next as well. Atchmianov, waiting in vain at Nadya's house for his own tryst, realizes he has been cheated out of his due.

When Laevsky shows up at Samoylenko's the next day for his money, he encounters Von Koren. The zoologist mocks the previous night's hysterics, and reveals he's learned of Laevsky's intentions to leave Nadya. Laevsky faults Samoylenko for gossiping, and, in incoherent self-defense, proposes to fight the doctor. Von Koren maneuvers Laevsky's rant into a challenge to duel with him, Von Koren. Laevsky, discombobulated, agrees to this absurdity.

On the grim night before the duel, Von Koren, swollen with self-righteousness, expounds to a dubious Deacon. Appalled Samoylenko refuses to participate in the duel. Laevsky turns for help to Sheshkovsky, who is too busy reading poetry to a naked lover. Laevsky lapses into drunken gambling, while sober, miserable Nadya prepares for her dreaded meeting with Kirilin.

For revenge, Atchmianov brings Laevsky to the Police Captain's sordid rooms. Laevsky walks in on Nadya in bed with Kirilin.

At dawn, the Deacon sneaks against his vows to the duel site, a fearsome cavern behind a raging waterfall. Sheshkovsky attempts to call off the duel, but Von Koren is pitiless in his righteousness. Distraught, Laevsky fires off to the side, refusing violence. Von Koren, tormented by his own aggression, fires at Laevsky just as Deacon calls out to stop him.

The shot grazes Laevsky's neck: but miraculously, he lives. Von Koren, horrified by his own savageness, is helped off the scene by Deacon. Laevsky, amazed at his survival, rushes home to Nadya, filled with fresh love for this pitiful, fallen woman. For the first time, he wants to live.

A new day, with all transformed unexpectedly by the duel. Dockside, it is an abashed Von Koren who is getting out of town. Laevsky and Nadya see him off with compassion -- for all their immorality, their humanity has trumped the zoologist's. The couple stands solidly together, without escape or illusion, facing an unknown, sober future.

ABOUT THE FILMMMAKERS

Dover Kosashvili (Director)

Born in Soviet Georgia in 1966, Dover Koshashvili immigrated to Israel with his family in 1972. He has directed two feature films and a short. His short, "Im Hukim" (By the Laws), first earned him acclaim at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, where it was considered for the Cinefoundation Award.

In 2001, Koshashvili made his feature film directorial debut with LATE MARRIAGE , from a screenplay he wrote himself. The film was critically acclaimed in both the U.S. and abroad. Stephen Holden of The New York Times called the movie "...a powerful and very bitter comedy." Danny Graydon of the BBC wrote that the film has "a lively script, an array of touching characters and situations that are fully exploited of their dramatic and comedic potential, this is an honest portrait of family tensions that Hollywood rarely approaches." Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote "Writer-director Dover Kosashvili is a shrewd observer of cultural collision, and his film -- a stunning directing debut -- is anything but sentimental." Kevin Thomas of The Los Angeles Times called the film "one of the cleverest, most deceptively amusing comedies of the year," and Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly cited it as one of the Top 10 Films of the Year.

LATE MARRIAGE was selected to be screened at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section and went on to win the following awards from the Israeli film academy: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Editing, Best Music, Best Sound, and was nominated for Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography. The film additionally went on to win the FIPRESCI and Best Actress prize at the Buenos Aires International Film Festival where it was also nominated for Best Film, the Wolgin Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival and a number of other prestigious prizes and awards from all over the world. In 2003, he released his second feature film: GIFT FROM ABOVE . The film went on to garner 11 nominations from the Israeli Film Academy, including Best Film and Best Director.

Donald Rosenfeld (Producer)

Donald Rosenfeld has had a successful and distinguished career in motion pictures: producing thirty Feature Films over the past twenty years.

Following a Bachelors Degree in History from Vassar College, and a Masters in Film from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Rosenfeld became President of Merchant Ivory Productions, producing the films of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, as well as managing the Company for eleven years.

From 1987--1998, Rosenfeld ran Merchant Ivory Productions, where he produced two films a year, including MR. & MRS. BRIDGE, HOWARDS END, THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, JEFFERSON IN PARIS and SURVIVING PICASSO. The films made with Merchant Ivory were nominated for a total of 19 Academy Awards.

In 1999, Rosenfeld founded High Line Pictures, producing Sundance Grand Prize Winner, FORTY SHADES OF BLUE, as well as THE COLOR OF A BRISK AND LEAPING DAY. In 2001, the Emmy Award winning film, "New York," directed by Ric Burns; and in 2003, "The Center of the World" was released, winning The Peabody Award and two Emmy Awards. EUGE NE O'NEILL, with Christopher Plummer, Liam Neeson and Al Pacino, opened to great critical acclaim in 2004; and, "Andy Warhol," a four hour epic exploration of Warhol's life and art, won The Emmy as well as Peabody Awards in 2006. Additional films Produced over the past decade include: WILLIAM EGGLESTON IN THE REAL WORLD, TONIGHT AT NOON and TREE OF LIFE. Rosenfeld is currently at work with Emma Thompson on a feature film from on her original screenplay, entitled EFFIE, based on the life of John Ruskin as well as Terrence Malick's VOYAGE OF TIME.

In 1991, Rosenfeld was elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where, in collaboration with the Academy Archive, he undertook the restoration and preservation of Satyajit Ray's classic films.

Mary Bing (Screenwriter / Producer)

Prior to her film career, Mary Bing spent a decade as a practicing psychoanalyst. Upon entering the world of film, Bing produced the critically-acclaimed FORTY SHADES OF BLUE (winner of the Grand Jury Prize, Sundance 2005). She also wrote and directed the short film, "Brother," which played at numerous festivals, including Slamdance.

Paul Sarossy (Director of Photography)

Chloe (Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson) is the latest project in the longtime collaboration of director Atom Egoyan and cinematographer Paul Sarossy. The two filmmakers have worked together on the films Adoration, Where the Truth Lies, Ararat, Felicia's Journey, The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica, The Adjuster and Speaking Parts , as well as the television production of Krapp's "Last Tape."

Other film credits include The River King starring Edward Burns, Ripley Under Ground starring Willem Dafoe, Head in the Clouds starring Charlize Theron & Penelope Cruz and Charlie Bartlett with Robert Downey Jr. Paul was also director of photography on Neil Labute's The Wicker Man, starring Nicholas Cage and Ellen Burstyn and Bruce Paltrow's Duets starring Gwyneth Paltrow.

In addition to several international film festival awards and nominations, Paul's honors include five Genie Awards for the films Head in the Clouds, Perfect Pie, Felicia's Journey, The Sweet Hereafter, and Exotica. He also received Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC) Awards for Rocky Marciano, Head in the Clouds, The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica, and White Room, an America Society of Cinematographers (ASC) award nomination for Picture Windows' and an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Affliction.

Paul made his directorial debut on the film Mr. In-Between, for which he won Best Independent UK Film Award at Raindance, a Prix Sang Neuf at Cognac, and the Best Actor Award at Tokyo.

His next project as Director is Roundabout.

Angelo Milli (Music Composer)

A native of Maracaibo, Venezuela, Angelo Milli is an award-winning film composer. He received his degree in film scoring from Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since 2004, Milli has written the original score for 10 feature films.

His most recent credits include: Ricardo de Montreuil's Mancora, Simon Brand's Paraiso Travel and Gabrielle Muccino's SEVEN POUNDS, starring Will Smith.

Other films that have brought Mr. Milli international visibility include, Satanas, the critically acclaimed Colombian film, which also won Mr. Milli his first Colombian National Film Award for Best Original Original Music.

ABOUT THE CAST

Andrew Scott (Laevsky)

Andrew Scott is emerging as one of the most exciting and versatile young actors of his generation. He recently starred as Paul McCartney in BBC film, "Lennon Naked," as well as playing arch-villain Moriarty in a new BBC version of "Sherlock Holmes." He also starred with Ben Winshaw in a sell out run of Cock at the Royal Court Theatre.

Other recent work includes the multi award winning "John Adams" opposite Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti for HBO, Sea Wall, a one man show written especially for him by Olivier- award winning playwright Simon Stephens, and "The Vertical Hour," his critically acclaimed Broadway debut opposite Julianne Moore, written by David Hare and directed by Sam Mendes, for which he was nominated for a Drama League Award.

Andrew made his film debut aged seventeen as the young lead in acclaimed Irish film KOREA . Dropping out of his Drama degree at Trinity College to join Dublin's famous Abbey Theatre, he garnered rave reviews for a season of lead roles.

After filming a small part in Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, he worked with legendary film and theatre director Karel Reisz on the classic American play Long Day's Journey into Night for which he won Actor of the Year at the Independent/ Spirit of Life Awards as well as an Irish Times Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was just twenty-one years old.

He then filmed NORA with Ewan McGregor, and Henry James's THE AMERICAN, alongside Diana Rigg and Matthew Modine before making his London Theatre debut in Conor McPherson's Dublin Carol with Brian Cox at the Royal Court Theatre.

He was then cast in major roles in the BAFTA-winning drama LONGITUDE opposite Michael Gambon, and multi-award winning series "Band Of Brothers" for HBO.

For his role in Buena Vista's DEAD BODIES, Andrew beat Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy and Aidan Quinn to win Best Actor at the Irish Film Awards. He then went on to receive a Shooting Star Award at the Berlin Film Festival for the same movie.

After starring in My Life in Film for the BBC, he received his first Olivier Award for his role in A Girl in a Car with a Man at The Royal Court, and the Theatre Goers Choice award for his heartbreaking performance in the National Theatre's Aristocrats.

He then created the roles of the twin brothers in the original Royal Court production of Christopher Shinn's Dying City, at The Royal Court, which was eventually nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Fiona Glascott (Nadya)

Fiona Glascott, a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, has performed extensively in Theatre, Film, and Television. Film credits include Fiona Hicks in THE DEAL IN OMAGH , written by Paul Greengrass, THIS IS MY FATHER, with Aidan Quinn and Isolde in GOLDFISH MEMORY, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination in the Irish Film and Television Awards.

Her many West End theatre appearances include the title role in The Country Wife at The Royal Theatre Haymarket, Nicola in Hitchcock Blonde at The Royal Court Theatre and Lyric Theatre, and Maggie in the original cast of Whipping It Up at The Bush Theatre, directed by Terry Johnson. Other theatre credits include Mibs in A life at the acclaimed Abbey Theatre, Dublin, Aisling in The Spirit of Annie Ross at The Gate Theatre, Dublin and Nina in The Seagull with Commedia de'lArte theatre company The Corn Exchange.

Her wide-ranging TV credits include Maria in the Emmy and Golden Globenominated "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler" with Anna Paquin, Rose in Clone with Jonathan Pryce, Janine in "The Long Firm" written by Joe Penhall. Other TV credits include Rosamund in The British classic "Poirot" and Rachel in "Bachelors Walk," directed by John Carney.

Tobias Menzies (Von Koren)

Tobias Menzies is best known for his portrayal of Brutus in the HBO series "Rome". His film credits include the role of Villiers in the Bond film CASINO ROYALE, with Daniel Craig and Judi Dench, ATONEMENT with James McAvoy, and THE LAST HANGMAN with Timothy Spall.

Tobias' wide-ranging TV credits include Mr. Eliott in Adrian Shergold's film of Jane Austin's "Persuasion", starring Sally Hawkins, the comedy series "Pulling" alongside Sharon Horgan, as well as a recent appearance in the long running BBC drama "Spooks." He will soon be appearing again on the BBC with Minnie Driver and Goran Visnjic in a new submarine thiller called "The Deep."

Tobias has also worked extensively on the London stage, recently appearing as Edgar opposite Pete Postlethwaite's King Lear, as well as playing Trofimov in Jonathan Miller's production of The Cherry Orchard, the title role in Hamlet for Rupert Goold, and Irwin in the internationally acclaimed play The History Boys for the National Theatre.

Niall Buggy (Samoylenko)

Dublin-born Actor, Niall Buggy, plays the role of Samoylenko, the good natured Doctor and distinguished member of the Military, in ANTON CHEKHOV 'S THE DUEL. Buggy has created most memorable and diverse film roles in such recent films as: MAMMA MIA!, BRIDESHEAD REVISITED and THE LIBERTINE.

Though he has had roles in over 50 feature films, and played twice as many characters on television, Niall's best known work as an actor is on the stage. He has performed in more than 200 theatrical productions in London's West End and on Broadway, playing leads in the work of Brian Friel and Tom Stoppard, as well as numerous classics by Shakespeare, Chekhov, etc.