Le Duel (1998)

Jean Baronnet goes back in time and takes up the story of David and Goliath. What does Goliath say to the Hebrews? Choose a man and let him come down to me; if, struggling with me, he brings me down, then we will be your slaves; if I bring him down, you will be our slaves and serve us. His speech means that it is useless for two armies to confront each other, that we must free ourselves from the laws of war and place this fight beyond conventions. It would seem that the real duel is always between people who believe that, in some cases, no code or legislation can claim to solve their problems. It is perhaps there that the duel begins, curious product of a belief and warrior instinct... From film excerpts, from the reading of ancient texts and recent images, the director then paints the story of the duel, from the time when the "point of honor" was defended with the sword to our contemporaries who fought to settle professional disputes.