Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon
Starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck
Rated R for strong violence including sexual assault, sexual content, some graphic nudity, and language Runtime: 2 hours 32 minutes
In theaters October 15

by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring

Content warning: depictions of rape

The Last Duel revitalizes the “prestige blockbuster.” Not talking about films that are made tiny and then explode when they receive critical favor and/or awards attention, but about big budget movies for adults that are hits before they are gathering golden trophies. Prestige blockbusters are filled with Hollywood A-listers, use cutting edge special effects, and are often based on historical events. On the downside, they tend to be fairly conservative in their view of history, often emphasizing single white male heroes on idealistic crusades. While that is one element of The Last Duel, even that is subverted to the point of deconstruction. In order to get into why I found this so captivating, I will have to largely spoil real life events that happened almost 700 years ago.

In 1386, Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) accused Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), of raping her. Le Gris is vassal to the same lord (Ben Affleck) as her husband, Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon), and the accusation leads to the last legally sanctioned duel in French history. The victor will have been judged by God to be the one telling the truth. The duel itself is teased at the beginning, and then we rewind to see the events leading to it through the eyes of the three people impacted the most. First up is Damon’s Jean de Carrouges, and his side of events frame him as a gruff, yet principled, man wronged by less honorable men than he. Then we see Le Gris point of view, where he seems to be one of the few who doesn’t ridicule de Carrouges, only to come into conflict with the knight and fall into lust toward his wife that may be somewhat reciprocated. Finally, we see Marguerite’s point of view, which makes Le Gris as much of a stuffed shirted peacock as de Carrouges. All of this leads to the public accusation of rape and the trial by combat between the two men.

The script by Holofcener, Affleck, and Damon deftly uses the tripartite structure by being a bit more subtle than Rashomon. Each section has scenes that reoccur from each person’s point of view as well as unique scenes that fill in more backstory and context. In the repeated scenes, the same line will be said by a different character, or a look between two characters takes on an entirely different meaning. Scott bolsters this through camera placement, blocking, and sound design. The Last Duel is not only narratively interesting, but offers a textbook study in how these choices can dramatically affect the feeling a scene elicits in the viewer, even if they are not consciously noted. So much of film is about the subliminal experience,and this is an easy to point to example.

One awkward thing about The Last Duel is that for a movie which is predicated on a woman being raped, it is wildly entertaining in other sequences. In fact, until we see Le Gris’ attack on Marguerite from the man’s perspective, there is a lot of comedy and pathos, some of which continue throughout. While Scott chooses to depict that sequence of events from both Le Gris and Marguerite’s perspectives, it is clearly a rape both times. Even in Le Gris’ own version, his professions of love to her are overshadowed by his attack, it is mostly his tone of voice that is different. The attack itself is toned down considerably from the brutality of the account offered in the source material, made palatable for most mainstream audiences, but not introducing any ambiguity or titillation. I am sure there are arguments for and against including the scene at all, but the overall feeling it drew from me was one of sadness and discomfort.

Damon and Driver are unsurprisingly compelling, but Jodie Comer and Ben Affleck almost run away with the film. Affleck’s role especially plays on his celebrity persona almost as well as Gone Girl, giving Count Pierre d'Alençon a simple and sometimes hateable exterior over a sly and cunning interior. Ultimately, this is Jodie Comer’s story. As Marguerite, she appears in all three sections, and her performance builds a portrait of a character that is captivating and complex. Everything about The Last Duel is a virtuoso performance, a reminder that mainstream art can entertain while also dealing with serious topics.