Boredom, fecklessness, ennui among the Russian upper middle class in the Caucasus in the 19th century. Our protagonist(?) is a disaffected bureaucrat who has come to despise his mistress, wants to dump her but is trapped by social pressures. He behaved like such a jerk toward her and everyone else I found it inexplicable why anyone would associate with him.
Eventually he is challenged to the titular duel which leads to a bafflingly unreal happy ending.
Sumptuously photographed...both interiors and exteriors. Scathing portrait of a people and a place/time. In spite of all the beauty on display we're left with the question...what is all this for?
What indeed...
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