Dudes, dues, stop fighting! You’re both prime examples of toxic masculinity … as is pretty much every man in this film. Can’t say the 14th Century is my dream vacay, y’know?
This film is about rape. And the rape in question takes place in 1386, long before the days of boxer-briefs and Victoria’s Secret. Heck, several centuries before Queen Victoria was even born. It was a time where the environment was (apparently) constantly cold and gray, and the justice system resembled that of modern Texas. Yes, that’s an exaggeration, but not as much of one as you might imagine.
So who’s up for a bitter 14th Century rape, huh?
Before the rape, there’s a bromance gone bad. We meet both the combatants through ten years of warring and post warring. French squires Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) took turns saving each other’s life (depending on who is telling the tale) and drinking to battles won and lost in the aftermath. This film is split into three accounts of the same material: First, The Truth According to Jean de Carrouges, next The Truth According to Jacques Le Gris, and finally, THE TRUTH According to Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer). The Last Duel makes no pretense over who is actually right.
Jean is an asshole, plain and simple. No sense of humor, doesn’t play well with others, seeks conflict where none is offered; he’s generally a person as bitter as this film. It was only a matter of time before he had a falling out with Jacques, an amiable and handsome bro. (It should be pointed out here that never ever ever has Matt Damon physically looked so ugly for a role. It’s not just age; the styling choices for Jean were selected by somebody who wanted, nay needed, to make Matt Damon look ugly.) Jacques, OTOH, is a man’s man; friend to all, handsome bro, life of the party, scholar, warrior, diplomat…oh, and he’s the rapist, of course.
The film’s biggest problem is it spends its first ninety minutes on two characters as ugly as the setting. By the time we get to Marguerite’s version, we’re nearly worn out while praying she’s a heroine worth rooting for. Turns out, that’s a yes, but more for circumstance than character. You see, this is the 14th Century and according to the church, rape doesn’t lead to pregnancy and the “wrong” person winning the duel proves that the woman is a liar … punishable by death.
So … Texas, see?
And yet, this is a film with a clear message made by a skilled hand. One of my favorite bits is three different versions of a kiss between Jacques and Marguerite. In the scene, Jean has condescended to stow his pride and show up at a party full of people who have been victims of Jean’s bile. Jacques, proving magnanimous to match his gregarious, welcomes Jean with open arms. A little taken aback, but accepting, Jean offers up his wife’s kiss as a show of good will. In Jean’s version, Marguerite offers Jacques a simple, sexless peck and he returns the same. In Jacques’ version, the kiss is as passionate as can be in public and in front of the woman’s jealous husband. When they unlink, the two
search each other for signs that it meant more than it did. In Marguerite’s version, she offers a peck, while Jacques steals a kiss. Only he is left searching after the moment, not she. These subtle contrasts show a very skilled piece of acting and direction.
Did I mention that a blonde Ben Affleck showed up in this film? He and Damon co-wrote The Last Duel along with Nicole Holofcener. I lay odds at roughly 15:1 against the pair repeating their writing nomination and roughly 100:1 against winning a second Oscar as a screenplay pair.
I’m not watching The Last Duel again, that’s for damn sure. I wasn’t fond of the length, the characters, or anything about the period in which they lived. I respect the film, however, as a tribute to the women’s movement and as a not-so-subtle reflection on how times and circumstances may change dramatically, and yet attitudes remain eerily similar; in the eyes of the oppressor, it’s still all a matter of taking what you can get away with and blaming the victim. Some things never change.
The Middles Ages smacked of “eyes wide shut”
Not Dark, yet still living in a rut
There were wars galore
And pestilence more
Yet the worst was the medieval bowl cut
Rated R, 152 Minutes
Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon
Genre: Centuries you wouldn’t actually want to live in
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The original #MeToo feminists
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Those who have no stomach for accurate period pieces
