--Lady Marguerite, The Last Duel
"I know you yearn to defend your name and your honor, but the common mind has no capacity for this sort of nuance . . . They see villains and heroes, that is all."
--Count Pierre, The Last Duel
One of the only masterpiece films to be released in 2021, The Last Duel is a triumph on every level. The realistic costumes and sets, the dialogue, the characterization, and the exploration of hearsay, truth, and self-deception as pertaining to rape come together so very well that this is one of Ridley Scott's very best films. The titular duel itself is among the greatest portrayals of a duel in cinematic history. More importantly, at no point does the incredible care and skill of the presentation ever detract from the philosophical issues at the heart of the events, as well as the way that Scott chose to present them to the audience. This is a movie where, unlike what is so often the case, the themes and production values are not unbalanced in that one obviously surpasses the quality of the other. From start to finish, The Last Duel succeeds as a movie and as a mirror that shows how people can misunderstand things that are so avoidable.
Production Values
The practical effects of the costumes and physical locations are at least borderline flawless here, providing a stage that does not ever steal the focus away from the extremely talented cast and the exploration of rape and sexism--sexism against men is even hinted at in the film, but in this case, the emphasis is specifically put on how women can be treated during and after rape. Jodie Comer, Adam Driver, and Matt Damon are outstanding in performances brimming with nuance which cuts right to the heart of their characters. Seeing some of the same events from the assumption-driven perspective of various characters only adds more depth to the acting in that each member of this trio had to make subtle or major changes to how they present their characters depending on whose chapter of the film it is. Oh, the enormous missed opportunities with Adam Driver as Kylo Ren! Driver makes it clear that he is perfectly capable of embodying a realistic villain: the kind who does not even seem to understand what they are actually guilty of. The way that the beliefs and actions of his Jacques le Gris contradict themselves without him ever showing any sign of realizing this lets Driver show a mastery of acting that would have done wonders for his Star Wars trilogy.
Jodie Comer displays both vulnerability and strength as a woman misunderstood or used as a tool for personal gain by even her own husband. Intelligent, observant, and authentic, her Lady Marguerite is of course the character without which there would be no story. It is only fitting that such a crucial character would be handled by Comer with stellar expressions, line delivery, and physical presence, and she does indeed accomplish all of these things. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck also deserve praise for the precision and subtleties of their performances. Damon has to perhaps change his character's demeanor the most across the different tellings of the events, but Affleck gives one of his best offerings of his entire filmography here. Affleck's Count Pierre might be a fool whose hedonism is only a front for his assumption that whatever he subjectively wants must be morally permissible, but he provides an unexpected level of comedy that never threatens the very solemn subject matter of the story as a whole.
Story
Some spoilers are below.
Two men, Jacques le Gris and Jean de Carrouges prepare for a fight that is meant to end in the death of one party or the other. Before the king and queen of France, the two will fight to supposedly "prove" the truth of a rape accusation against one of the duelists. The majority of the film after this opening scene is a three chapter portrayal of the same general events leading to this duel, each chapter shown according to what the two dueling men and the victimized woman are said to believe happened. Jacques and Jean already have an uneasy relationship when the former is given land promised to the latter at the behest of the self-absorbed Count Pierre. Then, upon returning home, Jean hears his wife accuse Jacques of invading their home and raping her, which prompts Jean to call for a legal duel to "settle" the guilt and innocence of Jacques.
Intellectual Content
What I originally wrote for this section was so long despite being incomplete that I decided to save it for a separate post. Below, I will still give a less thorough summary of how The Last Duel handles its grave subject matter and how that relates to the true nature of reality.
"The truth according to . . ." marks each of the three chapters of the movie as the focus cycles between three primary characters. However, when it is time for "The truth according to Lady Marguerite," the phrase "The truth" is left visible even after the rest of the chapter title fades. There are mostly subtle differences between each telling of the supposed events, like le Gris being less expressive and quick to speak when he enters Marguerite's home or the mood of de Carrouges when he returns to his land. One of the most significant changes, though, is that Marguerite screams and weeps as le Gris grabs her as shown in her chapter, whereas in his chapter, she made sounds suggesting that she was sexually aroused despite her verbal objections (after all, even being raped does not mean a person's body will not react sexually as might during consensual sex, so this does not contradict her being unwilling).
For all the talk of Christian devotion by numerous characters, no one seems to be even slightly familiar with the moral demands of the Bible that exclude trial by combat (no one's guilt is revealed or grounded in who can defeat their opponent), that forbid torturing people except using the relatively miniscule means occasionally prescribed in Mosaic Law (and what was promised to befall Marguerite if her husband lost the duel is certainly unbiblical even for people who commit capital perjury), and that do not treat rape as an offense against someone besides the victim. The rape case law in Deuteronomy 22:25-27 says to just execute the rapist while declaring the victim innocent, which defies almost every ideological and behavioral reaction to rape across human history. Sexism against female and male victims of rape and a desire for extreme torture or even the hypocrisy of raping the offender is rather easy to find supporters of.
The Christian stance on rape is so different from that described in The Last Duel, and yet there are still many Christians and non-Christians who do not understand this vital part of Biblical teachings. Justice is not blaming the victim for the sins of another person; justice is not making assumptions based on stereotypes; justice is not putting the perpetrator of rape in prison with rapists in hope they will be mistreated as well; justice is not pretending like a duel between two people has anything to do with whether a sin has been committed beforehand. According to the Bible the characters in The Last Duel pay lip service to, justice for rape, whether the offender or the victim is a man or woman is the quick execution of the offender and nothing more.
It is also crucial to realize that Jean rapes his wife after hearing that Marguerite was raped by le Gris, demanding sex so that le Gris was not the last man to have sexually "known" her. This is completely left out of Jean's chapter despite the fact that he is shown as committing the same sin as le Gris, though this unflinchingly conveys the sexism against women that would stop an abusive husband from seeing himself in his wife's rapist whom he takes to court. Here and elsewhere, The Last Duel's different character perspectives do an excellent job of giving attention to what is merely part of an issue that haunts humanity: the rape of women and men alike has been mishandled for millennia, and for all of the progress made by Biblical standards towards addressing the issue, even many Christians in modern America fall woefully short of treating rape as what it is.
Conclusion
Ridley Scott might be an imbecile when it comes to understanding things beyond the process of filmmaking, like why people might not have viewed The Last Duel in theaters for reasons besides them just seeing superhero films instead, but none of that changes the grand quality of everything about The Last Duel and its solemn focus on sexual assault. The cast is at its best in this movie that is perfect for the times despite only showing part of how sexual assault is handled or mishandled. Few films from 2021 even come close to rivaling this diamond that shows Ridley Scott has only become a better filmmaker with age. In fact, this is one of the better movies of the past few years, transcending both the generally lackluster releases of last year and the trend for entertainment to fail to handle its themes or its story and characterization equally well.
Content:
1. Violence: A handful of battle scenes, besides the duel itself, feature blood that never evolves into the gore of something like Game of Thrones but still shows the harshness of medieval life.
2. Profanity: "Fucking" is minimally used in dialogue.
3. Nudity: Several naked women are seen in the background when the promiscuous Count's sexual escapade is interrupted.
4. Sexuality: In addition to several scattered scenes that show sexual activities, Lady Marguerite and Jean de Carrouges are shown while covered by a sheet as they have sex in multiple scenes, and then there are the multiple clothed rape scenes.
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