Une affaire d'honneur

A precision attack composed of precisely timed thrusts and elegant feminist passages that sends the genre of “guy flick about fighting” into the maelstrom of current discussions about empowerment and does so without needless violence. The laconic Lacaze, played by Roschdy Zem, is probably this year’s greatest hero-nice guy. Perez is a surprisingly skilled storyteller and the action scenes that give the film its rhythm can easily measure up to those in The Last Duel. The peculiar combination of topicality and old-fashionedness gave rise to a film that can make one feel simultaneously like an adult and a twelve-year-old without any conflict between the two. Touché! (06/07/2023)

This French historical drama is worth a watch. The men settle their honour by duelling each other with swords or pistols, and the acting is dominated by fencing master Roschdy Zem, who plays a very likeable character. It's got attractive visuals, strong themes like honour, pride and feminism, interesting dueling rules and nicely filmed and intense duels (the fencing is really cool!), and the emotions at the end may work on some people. A decent film on an unconventional subject where thousands of Frenchmen died in tough duels.. 7/10. (29/05/2024)