"Scaramouche", Rafael Sabatini

Sabatini's books tend to fare better on screen than on the page, but it has been sufficiently long now since I saw "Scaramouche" -- which enchanted me on first viewing -- that I have forgiven the original novel for not being the novelisation of it that I had at that time expected.( Read more... )

This is not the story of a young man who seeks out the best swordsman in France so that he can learn to defeat his mortal enemy in a duel (although ironically enough this is pretty much precisely the tale that Moreau spins when seeking employment with a fencing-master to save himself from destitution!) It's not a sparkling romp that culminates in a dramatic duel in the theatre. It's a rueful tale of fate and estrangement and family.