TOwill be broadcast on first TV, this evening at 9.20pm on Canale 5, The Last Duelfilm directed by Ridley Scott and with protagonists Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer. A story inspired by true events that it tells a rape against a woman and her fight to bring out the truth. Unmasking silence and male hypocrisies.
The Last Duelthe plot of the movie
In 14th century France, during the Hundred Years’ War, the knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) challenges the squire Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) to a duel, guilty of having raped his wife Marguerite de Thibouville (Jodie Comer). This will be the last duel of God legitimized by French law which will prohibit its execution from now on. From this departure, the story that led to the challenge is reconstructed through three flashbacks, each from the point of view of one of the protagonists.
The context? The count Pierre d’Alencon (Ben Affleck) manages his possessions and his men in an impulsive and moody manner, but he lets himself be advised by his squire Jacques Le Gris (Driver), while he has a particular contempt for a knight he considers a thorn in his side Jean de Carrouges (Damon). And the situation worsens when de Carrouges himself accuses his “right-hand man” of raping his wife Marguerite de Thibouville (Jodie Comer). In an era where theand women don’t exactly have equal rights, the spouse must bear the responsibility for the offense. Who finally has the opportunity to turn the balance of power in his favor by appealing to the king.
But what is the truth? To tell it Ridley Scott divides the film into three chaptersthe first two dedicated to the two “contenders” and the third to the lady who is the victim of their lust. In two and a half hours the audience relives the same story through three very different points of view. Sometimes the same dialogues and identical movements are interpreted in diametrically opposite ways by whoever is telling his version. And the male/female dichotomy becomes more acute.
A Middle Ages that speaks to the present
Inspired by true events, and taken frombook of the same name by Eric Jager, Ridley Scott’s film is apparently complex – due to the narrative structure repeated and broken into three chapters – but in reality it has a rare smoothness and a screenplay that almost leaves no escape. Set as Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 masterpiece Rashomon, the film is a mosaic in which the truth continually escapes, until the third version. That of the woman victim of violence, the only one who can legitimately speak about the incident.
While the first two perspectives tend to provide a heroic and patriarchal vision of the facts, even romanticizing them, Marguerite’s point of view instead reveals the horror behind chivalry. A barbaric world where the only power that matters is that of men, where justice does not exist and the truth can cost you your life. The Last Duel, from this point of view, it is also the story of the courage of a woman who chooses to tell the truth at any cost. Challenging the customs of the time.
Adam Driver and Matt Damon in a scene from “The Last Duel”. (Courtesy 20th Century Studios)
Sir Ridley Scott, who has long been interested in telling the story, threw himself body and soul into the project. Returning to a genre that has always fascinated him. And which, in the past, saw him as the protagonist, as in the case of The Crusades – Kingdom of Heaven. Scripted by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, twenty years after the Oscar for Will Hunting – Rebel genius, The Last Duel it is a modern story but certainly not rhetorical or bigoted. Also boasting an epic visual impact, such as the grandiose battle scenes, and a sublime level of writing, it perfectly balances action scenes with intimate moments.
Based on “he said/she said”, as the Americans would say, iThe film ties in perfectly with the current affairs of harassment cases and violence that emerged with the # movementMeToo. An openly “feminist” filmwhich also saw participation in the screenplay of Nicole Holofcener who was responsible for writing the final chapter. Masterfully played by Jodie Comer capable of providing great acting moments without ever slipping into craft or rhetoric.
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