Released: October 2021
Director: Ridley Scott
Rated R
Run Time: 153 Minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Studios
Genre: Historical Drama
Cast:
Matt Damon: Jean de Carrouges
Adam Driver: Jacques le Gris
Jodie Comer: Marguerite de Carrouges
Ben Affleck: Pierre d’Alencon
Alex Lawther: King Charles VI
Marton Csokas: Crespin
As much as I am a huge fan of movies, I am also a big history buff. To me, history offers up some of the most incredible stories ever told. It’s one of the reasons why I love historical movies. To me, movies that are set centuries or even thousands of years ago are windows into a world that no longer exists. When done properly, these kinds of movie are just as compelling as any story that’s being told today. When done poorly, they come across as a bad joke(Pearl Harbor, I’m looking at you, bitch). The most important thing to remember when making a historical movie, is to make sure it’s a good movie first. Accuracy isn’t as important as getting the audience engaged. If you can do that and be historically accurate, even better. In fact, that should be the goal. The problem with historical accuracy is that the further back you go, the more diluted history becomes. Trying to make an historically accurate film based on events that happened a thousand years is going to be nearly impossible. What you need to do is be authentic to the time period, which means doing the proper research into what people were wearing, how the government worked, and how society operated at the time. THAT’S key. You can do whatever you want with a story that’s set in the Dark Ages as long as you get the period and dates right. You get that right and make the story compelling, and I’m totally on board. That is the case with Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel
Set in 14th century France, The Last Duel tells the story of three individuals: Jean de Carrouge, Jacques le Gris, and Jean’s wife, Marguerite de Carrouge. During the backdrop of the Hundred Years’ War, Jean de Carrouge marries the daughter of a nobleman that betrayed France in the past. Finding that he’s nearly broke, Jean goes to war for France on multiple occasions. During one of those battles, Marguerite is left alone in their estate when she’s assaulted by Jean’s old friend, Jacques. Returning home, Jean learns from his wife that she was violated by Jacque while he was gone. Enraged, he declares his intent to fight Jacque to the death to avenge his and his wife’s honor. That’s pretty much the gist of the story. What makes this so interesting is that the story is told three times throughout the course of the film but from different perspectives. The first one was from Jean’s point of view, the second from Jacques’s view, and the third from Marguerite’s experience. In many cases, this kind of structure wouldn’t really work, but for this particular story, it’s amazing. It’s not without its problems though. When you’re telling the same story from multiple perspectives, there’s a strong chance that certain elements will get repeated, and that does happen. But, from each perspective, you learn more about what’s going on between the characters and the events that followed. This story is based on the actual final duel between Carrouge and Gris towards the end of the 14th century. It was the last legally sanctioned duel in France’s recorded history.
What stands out about the story is the fact that one woman, Marguerite refused to be silent about her assault. What you have to understand is that up until very, VERY recently, like in the last 70 years, women were expected to be obedient and subservient to men. If you thought that things were bad in the last century, think about how women were treated during the 14th century. So, when somebody comes out and says that The Last Duel is nothing but #metoo drivel, you have to understand the historical context on which this film was made. It was very rare for women to speak out when they’ve been wronged, and if they were convicted of lying to the courts, they would have been burned at the stake. So, yeah, things HAVE improved for women, but there’s still a long way to go. But it impresses me that even during the 14th century, one woman had the guts to stand up for herself, even at the cost of her own life. So, for all of those anti-woke folks out there, you might want to keep that in mind. It’s an incredibly powerful and effective story that is incredibly relevant.
The acting in this film is second-to-none. The Last Duel has some of the strongest performances of the year. Matt Damon as Jean de Carrouge is fantastic, and he rocks a mullet, so bonus points for that. Adam Driver is brilliant as Jacque le Gris. Driver gets some pretty decent laughs during his segment, but he’s just as intense as Matt Damon. Ben Affleck as Pierre d’Alencon is great. Aside from the fact that he’s got blonde hair in this movie, Affleck really gives d’Alencon that level of sleazy, yet charming bravado that you would expect from a French count. Everyone brings their A-game to this movie, but the real standout here is Jodie Comer as Marguerite. She gives an incredibly powerful and nuanced performance here. Not only can Ms. Comer stand with the big boys, but she outdoes them in so many different ways. I would be shock if she wasn’t nominated for Best Actress for The Last Duel. The chemistry that all these actors have with each other is what really makes this movie work.
The Last Duel earns its R-rating by a country mile. This is one of the most brutal and violent movies that I’ve seen all year. It’s even more so, because not only are the battles handled realistically, it’s all based on actual events. It’s gritty, grimy and extremely bloody. The first battle with the English towards the beginning of the movie is one of the most brutal battle sequences put on screen. When the perspective shifts to Jacques’s point of view, it’s still the same, but from different angles. While most of the battles are pretty brief, they are savage. Matt Damon and Adam Driver really hold their own in those battles. The titular duel at the end of the film, however, is the pièce de résistance of the film. Matt Damon and Adam Driver really go at it here, and in full armor, no less. Granted, the armor is made of lighter material than what the real warriors used, but it still makes for a visually spectacular and epic sequence. While the drama of what happened to Marguerite is at the very core of the film, Ridley Scott knows his way around a battlefield, and it shows. It’s that good.
The Last Duel bombed at the box office. Hard. As a result, Ridley Scott made some…comments about why the film did as poorly as it did. I think his arguments were about youngsters and their “Twitties” and “Facebooks.” There’s a number of reasons why this movie didn’t do very well. First of all, the subject matter is very unsettling, even for a period piece. Seeing a movie about a woman being sexually assaulted, is not exactly great marketing material. It’s incredibly unsettling and disturbing at times. Honestly, the trailers and marketing campaign, really didn’t do a good job of explaining what this movie was about, so it probably confused people. On top of that, the movie is two-and-a-half hours long. There are times when it feels like it. You’ve also got the #metoo folks and the anti-feminist folks out there complaining about the movie, saying that it glorifies rape. It really doesn’t, but again, you have to understand the historical context here. This stuff happened on a regular basis way back when. Do I think the movie should’ve done better at the box office? Absolutely. It’s fantastic. But for Ridley Scott to blame the audience for the dismal failure of his movie seems kind of disingenuous.
The Last Duel is not a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination. There are a couple of nitpicks that I have with it. First off, the Rashomon-style of multiple perspectives for one story, as I had mentioned, has a tendency to not only overlap, but also repeat certain elements of the movie. Seeing Marguerite’s sexual assault twice was incredibly unnecessary. Once was enough. You didn’t need to show it again to get your point across. That was a big problem for me. This being a Ridley Scott film, there are a few moments where the film becomes a little self-indulgent and those moments could’ve been cut out to bring the run time down a few minutes. Ultimately, though, Ridley Scott knocks it out of the park, again, with The Last Duel. This guy is better than most when it comes to period pieces. His attention to detail is extraordinary, and while I might not agree with what he says about the audience, he’s an absolute master of his craft. This is a movie that needs to be seen. Great acting, great battle sequences, and a thoughtful and powerful story round out one of the best movies of the year. So, yeah, I recommend it.