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The Last Duel


As per the film's title, this is all about the last legally sanctioned duel in France. In 1386! Wikipedia gives a more recent 1547 and Ridley Scott himself directed a film (his first) in 1977 called The Duellists, set around the early 1800s, though I take it the duels in this film were not judicial. Anyway, The Last Duel is a pretty fine film. It's neatly structured into three parts, though crucially, not three acts. Each part is named 'The Truth According to....', covering the main characters, played by Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer. These are Jean de Carrouges, Jacques Le Gris and Marguerite de Carrouges respectively. Add Ben Affleck's delicious portrayal (replete with quality swears) of Count Pierre d'Alençon, and you have some excellent turns; just the right side of smallgoods.

The 'three truths' structuring will, of course, conjure thoughts of Rashomon (and the many examples of  films or TV shows using the Rashomon Effect), but the icing on this cake is the resulting similarity to an especially fine Game of Thrones episode, with Marguerite as the Tyrion proxy. You'll know the one. The crime that underpins the whole film, and the reason for the duel, is the rape of Marguerite. This obviously isn't seen in the first telling, as Jean is away when it occurs, so we get the reporting of the act from wife to husband. Jean's reaction is immediate disbelief but his reaction from his 'memory' isn't as ugly as from the third part - Marguerite's side of things. 

The second and third tellings show the rape in all its repugnance. Here's where I blanched a little - I didn't think a second version was warranted, even though I can see the absolute need to show the subtle changes before and during the rape that explain how a person (Le Gris) could completely believe his own story. His actions are virtually the same from part 2 to part 3, but Marguerite's are clearly different (she ACCIDENTALLY loses her shoes; she screams for help many times, NOT only once; she's visibly crying during and after, NOT just breathing heavily, etc). It's a smart way to let the audience see how viewpoints can crucially differ, but it's uncomfortable viewing nonetheless.

Another point of note is that the film was written (and produced) by three people - Damon, Affleck and Nicole Holofcener. As Damon told Entertainment Tonight, 

"It's a story about perspective... So, there are two knights and then there's the Lady Marguerite. So Ben and I wrote the male perspective and Nicole Holofcener wrote the female perspective. That's kind of the architecture of that movie."

And that architecture shines a light on the fact that the 'male perspective' hasn't changed a whole hell of a lot for many blokes. Affleck's Count (minus an 'o', if you like) is a prime example of the kind of dick that still muddies the waters of society. He's a charismatic enabler - encouraging his protégé in his carousing ways, and then covering up for him when the accusations are brought to light.

Sir Ridders needs mention here too. The old dude has still got the chops. His directing is custom-made for this kind of film - confident, showy, grandiose. The climactic duel is fantastically gripping and I'm sure the lead-up made it all the more so. Also, I'd been a bit of a Comer agnostic before this performance but I was put rightfully in my place and into the Comer Corner (Comer Corner, Karma Comer, Comer Chameleon?). Her withering look at the back of Damon's head near the end of the film is priceless.

The Last Duel is showing now at Palace (and other) cinemas.

See also:

I won't suggest the obvious GoT episode (alluded to above) but see that again, by all means. I also can't recommend Scott's early duelling film (mentioned above too), as I haven't seen it. So instead I'll give you two of my favourite duels in cinema, namely the fight at the top of the Cliffs of Insanity in The Princess Bride (1987), directed by Rob Reiner, and the gun vs knife duel in The Magnificent Seven (1960), directed by John Sturges.

LIGHT SPOILAGE IN POD!

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