Based on a story by Joseph Conrad, this beautifully photographed movie was director Ridley Scott's first feature after graduating from commercials (Alien was to be his second). Set against the heavyweight hostilities of the Napoleonic Wars, it comes across as a coldly brilliant portrait of obsession, as hussars Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine challenge each other over the years to a series of duels. Their small-scale battles might seem petty and ludicrous when juxtaposed against the war that's raging around them. But Keitel's manic man of honour is a character whose chilling fixation says something about the wider conflict and humankind's need to struggle. The British supporting cast is very impressive, too, with Albert Finney, Robert Stephens and Edward Fox all making brief but memorable appearances.

In 1800, as Napoleon Bonaparte rises to power in France, a rivalry erupts between Armand and Gabriel, two lieutenants in the French Army, over a perceived insult. For over a decade, they engage in a series of duels amidst larger conflicts, including the failed French invasion of Russia in 1812, and shifts in the political and social systems of Europe.