The last duel officially sanctioned by the kingdom of France took place in 1386 between knight Jean de Carrouges and his former best friend and squire Jacques Le Gris after Le Gris broke into their home and raped de Carrouges’s wife, Lady Marguerite de Carrouges. There are multiple reasons as to why no other duels were sanctioned by the French royalty after this point, but Ridley Scott’s (“Alien,” “Gladiator”) film isn’t interested in any of that. Instead it's interested in why this duel took place, and the woman at the center of it all.
Unquestionably, the most important thing to mention is that this film twice shows the rape taking place. It shows it from two different points of view, but nevertheless it is unflinchingly realistic in its portrayal both times. Undoubtedly, this film will likely trigger people who are sensitive to sexual assault or who have been through it themselves, and this fact is, unfortunately, not something easy to gloss over. It doesn’t diminish the film’s quality, as it, and it being portrayed twice, is an important piece of the story, but it's a fact that needs to be mentioned nevertheless.
One of the reasons it feels so visceral and brutal both times is due to the absolutely jaw droppingly good performance at the center of it all. If she wasn’t a bonafide star already, Jodie Comer’s (“Killing Eve,” “Free Guy”) performance here as Lady Marguerite is nothing short of legendary. Given the film’s structure, she’s required to do a lot with the material, and it's a showpiece for how little movements and attention to details in a performance can change how each moment plays out. It's a bleak performance, often without hope, but Comer never lets it sink to the levels of pity or tragedy. She’s fierce, in every definition of the word.
Matt Damon (“Good Will Hunting,” “The Martian”) and Adam Driver (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Marriage Story”) also deliver excellent performances as Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris, respectively, and just like Comer, the repeated nature of the film means that they’re allowed to showcase nuances between each performance of each interpretation. It’s a stark contrast between how each views the other, but what’s honestly more shocking is how little difference there can be between the natural cruelty from them in Marguerite’s story and their own.
As previously mentioned, the film’s basic structure lends itself to delivering different interpretations of the events from different perspectives. Act one showcases the film’s plot from the perspective of Damon’s character, de Carrouges, written by Damon. Act two showcases the film’s plot from the perspective of Driver’s character, Le Gris, written by Ben Affleck (“Good Will Hunting,” “Argo”), and act three showcases the film’s plot from the perspective of Comer’s character, Lady Marguerite, written by Nicole Holofcener (“Enough Said,” “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”).
The first two acts have stark contrasts to the third, no surprise given the film’s overall perspective, but it's how frankly these elements are dealt with that proves to be the most startling aspect. Much of the movie is just watching these events play out in a fairly detached manner. There’s still some great cinematography from Dariusz Wolski (“Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “The Martian”) and music from Harry Gregson-Williams (“Shrek,” “Gone Baby Gone”), but one of the stronger aspects is that Scott doesn’t attempt to put sparkles or flair over any of what happens, good or bad. It leaves the audience with a strong feeling of truth and lies, what someone is saying happened versus what actually did.
“The Last Duel” is a medieval epic in every sense of the word, with a grand scale and spanning many years, but without a doubt the most important thing that it understands is that at the center of it all are people. It's not sympathetic by any means to Jean or Jacques but it provides enough information over the course of their lives to show who they are. It doesn’t apologize for them, rather just airing them out for the world to see.
Marguerite, the closest thing the film has to a protagonist, is unquestionably its hero. Despite not taking part in the titular duel, she fights the most and loses the most. Marguerite, and by extension Comer, is the center of the entire film’s narrative, even when she’s not the one telling it. It's an impactful, powerful story that pulls no punches and never talks down to its audience.
It could be argued that some of the dialogue around the accusations and the ways the character react to it are a bit on the nose, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t believable or immediately comparable to modern day #MeToo moments. In fact, some of the film’s most powerful emotional moments come from just how startlingly little has changed in both how the world at large and Marguerite’s loved ones react to the rape itself.
Scott and his crew smartly show the film’s most intense moments with no fanfare, instead just letting the hypocrisy and dread show itself through the action. When Marguerite is asked multiple times if she swears what she’s saying is true, Scott doesn’t need to point out that they aren’t asking Le Gris the same question, because we already know they aren’t and won’t.
“The Last Duel” is not just Ridley Scott’s best film in years, but it's a commanding, intense historical epic with a story that feels unfortunately modern. Comer commands an already impressive trio of lead performances, and coupled with a tense script and a unique way to approach this story, Scott and co. have easily delivered one of the best and most important movies of the year. 5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment