Steven Spielberg's Duel

Written by Dan Moore in Film Reviews, Saturday 27 September, 2008

Crown Duel

Where do I start with the excellent film that is Duel? Well it was perhaps unwise to start with my opinion of it; those of an impatient disposition might well be inclined to have already stopped reading at this point. But for those who crave insight, reasons as to my conclusion might be convenient and so it is with one of those that I shall begin.

The first reason therefore being that Duel is possibly one of those most tension-packed films ever made. From the moment our protagonist, one David Mann, in his battered and aptly-named Plymouth Valiant, driving peacefully on a sunny Californian highway, starts to become to the target of a rusty Peterbilt truck, the tension never abates for one second. The one scene lasts for more or less the whole film, leaving little time for relief of any sort.

In fact I remember the first time I saw this film. For the first 15 or so minutes or so I was merely watching it, not particularly paying attention, it seemed more of a distraction, albeit one that seemed to have potential. As soon as the unseen antagonist, driving the rusty truck came into play, that all changed. Gone was the feeling that the film was merely something to occupy time with in lieu of a more mundane activity. My heart rate increased, beads of sweat seemed like they were being evaporated by the hot Californian sun that I felt I was under. I was damn right about the potential.

Of course, it is pointless to say the film is tension packed and recommend seeing it based on that if I didn't attempt to explain why the film is so successful at delivering it. Firstly, as I've already said, the antagonist is unseen. We never see his face, his emotions; much less find out his reasons for pursuing Mann. In his absence, the truck seems to take his place; it is personified as an evil and almost conscious being, supernatural perhaps. It is the only thing that David has to try and understand what is happening and of course it offers no clues, aside from confirming it is indeed happening. Some people, of course will see this as a criticism. They're mistaken. The fear of the unknown is far more chilling.

That noise you just heard; was it the house creaking, or was it a maniacal murderer creeping up the stairs? Even if you knew it was the latter; the possibility it could be something even worse is removed. What could be worse? This is exactly the kind of unknowing fear that Duel plays upon throughout; ever increasing from not even being confident that anything out of the ordinary is happening. Any attempt to introduce something as measured; something as civilised as reason into such a primal situation would only serve as an anti-climax.

The only other real scene involves Mann in a café. This is at least as anxiety-racked as the main chase scene. Mann believes there is a good chance the driver is in the somewhat busy café. If we or Mann knew the driver's face, the effect would be massively diminished. Either a fight would break out between the two or Mann would try and hide his face from one particular customer. This just isn't an option. Instead, he has to put on a façade of calmness, trying to identify who his would-be murderer is, all the time not sure if the driver is even in there.

And on the unknowing front, the viewer never finds out much about Mann. Where is he going? Why exactly is he being chased? Why is he so timid? He could almost be anybody. He almost could be everybody.

Of course such fear and tension could only be portrayed with acting to match and since I've spent a great deal of words describing those two attributes with what can only be described as awe, you may have already guessed the acting does indeed match. Being as this is a chase film with an unseen antagonist, there is one actor that has more screen time than all of the other members of cast put together; that of Dennis Weaver who plays the protagonist David Mann.

Anyone who finds themselves in a life or death situation such as this will generally find themselves exhibiting one emotion; that of course being the much mentioned fear. Panic also features heavily. On the few occasions that David tries to convince bystanders of the danger he is in, this changes slightly to that close relation of fear: paranoia.

Paranoia, panic and fear; you might be thinking, not exactly the most wide-ranging of emotions. You'd be right of course, but in what is essentially a one-scene film they are all that is needed and Weaver plays them to perfection; if of course they are different emotions at all. Panic is surely just hyperactive fear, isn't it? And fear hyperactive paranoia?

Being as the truck driver is almost completely unseen, I feel I ought to class the truck as an actor. If you've ever seen the cover of Duel, seen screenshots of it or even caught a bit of the film yourself, you'll remember it. The rusty brown exterior gives it an unrefined and unique look, which if not evil is certainly coldly indifferent. The elevation to pure evil requires the truck to take on a personality. A clue can be found in the only thing resembling branding on the truck, a large "FLAMMABLE" on the back of the trailer.

Under heavy acceleration, which is a major element in any chase scene, the truck belches black clouds of smoke from the exhaust pipe, as if sending out smoke signals of malevolence. And has there ever been a mute villain? Not having been chased by a large vehicle before, I can't be sure that a 1950s Peterbilt being driven to the limit does sound anything like Duel makes out, but it does give it an almost supernatural snarl. Its bark isn't worse than its bite; it's a warning.

I said earlier that the tension never abates; this being a showing on ITV, that wasn't strictly true, due to of course the incessant advert breaks. I took the opportunity during one break to walk over to the mirror, shake my head in silent appreciation, breathe out slowly and think "My God, now that's what you call tension." I then went to get a chocolate bar which I forgot to eat, so immersed in the non-abating tension was I. It served as an almost post-coital snack during the credits.

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