The Last Duel Review
Ridley Scott’s most recent release The Last Duel was a harrowing and intense film that, in an interesting twist, is very timely. The film, which is based on true events, takes place in 14th century France, and follows the story and trial of Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer), who was raped by Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver). Her husband, Sir Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon), challenges Le Gris to the titular duel, in hopes of proving that his wife told the truth, although his real motives may differ.
Driver and Comer were absolutely fantastic in the movie. Driver continues to amaze me and is starting to become one of the consistently great actors we have right now. I hadn’t seen Comer before this film and this was an extremely impressive performance. Both, to me, seemed to be Oscar-caliber performances, but the lack of popularity the film received means they likely won’t receive the recognition they deserve.
In addition to both acting in the film, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote the screenplay together along with Nicole Holofcener. It was a reunion for Damon and Affleck, who hadn’t written a script together since Good Will Hunting, for which they received an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. I think their acting was the weak point of this film. The screenplay was not bad – actually at points, it was impressive – but their acting is the only major criticism I have. Even though the story takes place in France, the characters speak English, in their normal “American” accents which was not too distracting with Driver or Comer; they slid into this world perfectly. Damon and Affleck, on the other hand, did not. With almost every line Matt Damon spoke, his Bostonian tone of voice and lack of formality removed me from the world of The Last Duel. With Affleck, it didn’t even feel like he was playing a character. Every time he was on screen, I didn’t feel like I was watching the character he was playing --I was just watching Ben Affleck mess around in France.
The story is told in three chapters, each being a different character’s perspective on what happened. This method of storytelling reminded me of Akira Kurosawa’s film Rashomon, which, similarly, tells of a rape through the perspectives of each person involved. Going into The Last Duel, I was worried that this format might yield repetition and that by the third section of the film, I would dread watching the same scenes for a third time. Luckily, the opposite turned out to be true. Ridley Scott’s directing was exceptional; each chapter had its own unique tone and rarely did scenes feel redundant. The little details and differences in how each person rendered the story effectively kept the audience engaged (i.e. who said what line, the subtle looks someone made, who kissed who). Scott is an experienced director with great period pieces in the past, most notably Gladiator. Because of his experience, I was able to trust the movie. Even when I did not fully understand what was happening in the film, I knew Scott wouldn’t lose control of the direction of the film, which allowed me to more comfortably invest in the story.
The only directional quarrel I have here is that the film felt about 20 minutes too long. The Last Duel runs 153 minutes and I felt my attention giving out towards the end of the film. I do believe that it is worthy of a rather lengthy runtime, but at over two and a half hours, it felt quite demanding.
Upon my viewing of The Last Duel, I couldn’t help but reflect on how timely this film is. Many have described it as a glimpse into the 14th century’s #MeToo Movement, and I do not disagree. The problems Marguerite was forced to reckon still occur: one of her best friends (and the overwhelming majority of France for that matter) did not believe that the rape happened, even blaming her as she once offhandedly commented on Le Gris’ good looks. She also was encouraged not to come forward, for the consequences would be too dire and she did not deserve such attention. The film was an interesting exploration into the systemic misogyny that is rooted in society, but it still feels odd to me that a film containing such content was written, mostly, by men and directed by a man.
To say that I “enjoyed” The Last Duel would be inappropriate. The film carries a heavy weight and at times was extremely hard to watch. That being said, I thought it was incredibly well made. Many of the performances were outstanding and Ridley Scott’s directing was fantastic.
By Daniel Rosen