The Most Realistic Sword Duel in Movie History

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It has a very solid, authentic fight choreography brought to live by skilled and convincing actors. It's rare to find such an accurate portrayal of real-life dueling in the 17th century.

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#Film #Fight #Analyzed

[kamilszadkowski]

For all those who played the Witcher 3 Hearts of Stone. The quotes "Would you wait, sir, for dribble to subside" and "You don't strike sir, you flail" come from this movie. Geralt vs Olgierd fight is literally a reference to the duel between Kmicic and Wołodyjowski.

[bartomiej]

7:10 - switching hands is explained in the novel. Wołodyjowski quickly discovered he was a better fencer and started mocking Kmicic.
7:50 - spinning cuts. It is a movie version of displaying Kmicic's desperation. He knew he was losing and was desperate.
Movie is following novel pretty precisely in this moment.

[Pijawek]

Fun fact that makes you appreciate the actors even more: this movie was based on a book, and the book was so popular that literally everybody in Poland had read it. It's author, Henryk Sienkiewicz, described his protagonists fighting styles in great details, so the actors didn't only had to learn to fight but they had to learn to fight in the styles of the characters they were playing. Small movements, spinning cuts and changing hands that you mentioned were taken directly from the book

[petteringdahl]

"I'm not going to spoil who won this fight"
proceeds to talk about how one guy is better than the other for 11 minutes straight.

[janekmorawski]

In those times in Poland every actor needed to know how to ride hourse, fight with sword etc. They were a big part of phisical education in Polish acting schools.

[rm]

"I nearly got my skull caved in, so I needed a breather. Then we resumed the filming the movie."
- Polish dude

[mireksoja]

The actor Tadeusz Łomnicki who played Mr. Wołodyjwski was well trained by Witold Woyda - Polish fencer who won four Olympic medals in the foil between 1964 and 1972.

[fistofjustice]

As a Polish man reading the comments, thank you all. We are all beautiful countries, and we all have amazing histories, and culture. Never forget that.

[silverlance]

I'm a simple Turk when i see Poland I run. (from Turkey with love)

[Kasonek]

Yes, Geralt of Rivia vs Olgierd von Everec duel was based on this movie.

[Angelimir]

Funfact: the actor playing Kmicic, Daniel Olbrychski's grandson is Antoni Olbrychski, who is currently top 10 on HEMA Ratings in both longsword and saber, and fought in Swordfish Longsword final last year :)

[Myrth]

The "weird" things Wołodyjowski does make more sense in a novel or if you are familiar with the context. You see, the entire premise of the duel is this:
Kmicic is fighting for his life. He puts all the skill he has and all the effort there could be. For him that's life-or-death situation. And he's a nobody, a literal punk that just get into serious shit and tries to wiggle out of it by means of dueling and barely can fight in the first place (at least for the standards of the era).
Meanwhile, Wołodyjowski is THE famous fencing master, renown for his skills all across the country and sole mention of his name is enough to get people back down when he steps in. So when he's facing Kmicic, he at first tries to amuse himself, then he's just bored with it. The book goes into lenght to describe him being progressively more and more bored with the whole situation, while Kmicic is in the same time more and more aware that his enemy is not only holding back, but DELIBERATELY drags the duel on to keep humiliating Kmicic and his ineffective fighting with switching hand to the left, constant disarms and standing still like a tree, while Kmicic jumps around from side to side to no effect.
Hence the famous "Finish this, sir, and spare me (further) humiliation" (one of the most memetic lines in Polish and something people say to this day when they get owned), to which Wołodyjowski instantly strikes him with a finishing knock-out, something that he could done in the first 5 seconds, but that wouldn't be didactic for Kmcicic - and he wanted to teach the guy a lesson, rather than kill him on the spot.
So whenever Wołodyjowski does something ineffective or that looks phoney, that's part of the deal - he does even more of this stuff in the book. On the flip-side, when Kmicic does something ineffective or stupid, that's to show how incompetent he really is (remember the number of close-ups to footwork?) and noted as such in source material - including his erratic, chaotic movement, just trying to power-through early on and then realising his opponent parries without a flinch all his "trademark" lounges, leaving him with nothing for himself.

Also, a side-note: prep and filming for this scene took over 3 MONTHS. That's a time you can film a feature-lenght movie. The duel itself lasts slightly below 3 minutes.

[hungarianhillbilly]

I'm a simple Hungarian I see Poland I hit like.

[Montrala]

Wołodjowski was called First Saber of The Republic, Kmicic was arrogant troublemaker. From Wołodjowski point of view purpose of this duel was not to kill Kmicic, not even to physically hurt him, but to humiliate him in front of all men present. To theach him a lesson. Movie scene shows this perfectly.

[genezypkapen]

If there's anything to add for context (not a fencing expert, but it might explain some things about the fight):
- The fight is about a woman, namely, about a woman whom Kmicic (very good pronunciation!) kidnapped and Wołodyjowski was tasked with getting back (not a love interest for him, but a love interest for Kmicic).
- Both fighters were renowned for their fencing skills, but haven't met before. Kmicic is more of a rogue here, Wołodyjowski more a military type. So, in a way, one is a "self-taught" fencer, the other a professionally trained one.
- Wołodyjowski clearly treats the fight as a teachable moment; he sees a rough-hewn, fiery-tempered brawler with some skill that is revered by his company. But Kmicic isn't yet a soldier, he doesn't know he's in way over his head. So, Wołodyjowski is showing it to him - I wouldn't say 100% to humiliate him, but the effect is clear. (Hence the bit where he whirls the blade around for, like, a full minute and comments "You're handling it like a flail.")
- Part of the reason for the humiliation is that the longer the fight lasts, the more clear it becomes that Kmicic is actually at an end and that Wołodyjowski can pretty much do as he pleases with him. The fight ends with Kmicic lowering the blade and saying "End this, sir; spare me the shame, " but the cut that Wołodyjowski applies is only enough to put Kmicic out of action, not enough to kill him. When Kmicic recovers, Wolodyjowski hands him the colonel's baton as both of them are assigned regiments for the war against Sweden.
On a final note, part of the reason why Kmicic seems so flamboyant and Wołodyjowski so economic is because of the age and fitness difference (perfect casting, btw!). Olbrychski (Kmicic; pronounced ol'-BRYKH-skee) was a full 18 years younger than Łomnicki (Wołodyjowski; wom-NEETS-kee) and much fitter; I think he did all his stunts himself. This translates very well into the image they project - that the fight is between a cocky upstart who thinks he knows the game and an old head who sees right through the kid.
Anyway, as a complete noob when it comes to fencing, I just wanted to say I like it when experts confirm my beliefs - this fight, and the fight scenes in the Eastern European historical movies of the period in general, always seemed more "real" to me than the carefully choreographed fights from more modern films and shows. It does seem that filmmakers simply employed reconstructors and experts in the field, rather than fight choreographers. Who'd have thunk it that it might work out better!

[Rbletek]

Kmicic's strange movements perfectly reflect the description in the book. This man was so sure of his abilities that when he confronted Wolodyjowski, who was far superior to him in abilities, he flew into a rage, started to hover and jerk irrationally.

[KeyhaneBishomar]

Love Polish people from Persia, poland is a very old nation, also during medival was the only europian nations which always had close relations to Persia.
Persia 💝 Poland
La viva

[macha]

Hi I'm from Poland and I don't know if you've seen the whole movie, but Wołodyjowski didn't want to kill Kmicic, just humiliate him

[Marcin-L]

For Wiedzmin fans
This fight from the Polish film, the creators of the game The Witcher 3 - Hearts of Stone, drew the motive for the entire addition as well as the fight between Geralt and Olgeird. The same words fall into battle even

[BloodHoundPL]

I'm impressed how well you've described behavioural and psychological traits of these characters merely observing their fighting style :D