REVIEWS
The books, TV shows and films causing a stir in the history world this month
Certificate: 18 Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer Released: Out now
A riveting medieval ‘Me Too’ story
O
n 29 December 1386, in a frosty field on
the outskirts of northern Paris, the last
legally sanctioned trial by combat took
place in France, between knights Jean
de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques
Le Gris (Adam Driver). Ridley Scott’s latest
historical saga The Last Duel explores the sordid
backstory leading up to this legendary and
much written about encounter, drawing parallels
between the past and present regarding the
treatment of women in society.
Scott’s history-based epics, like all his
pictures, regardless of genre, are grounded in
realistic attention to detail and sumptuous
imagery that’s matched to intelligent
storytelling. The renowned filmmaker is a
world-builder who brings the past to life like
few other mainstream directors; he loves to
transport the audience to another time and
place, with medieval France depicted here as
cold, brutal, muddy and often bloody.
The Last Duel, set over the course of many
years, is told in flashback and from a trio of
perspectives, each chapter titled ‘The TruthAccording to...’ The clever screenplay by Nicole
Holofcener, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (who
appears in a scene-stealing role as Count Pierre
d’Alençon) is unusually structured – certainly for
a Hollywood blockbuster. However, its ‘He Said,
He Said, She Said’ plot brilliantly underlines the
salient themes of the film and allows the tale to
build to a harrowing conclusion. The narrative
gamble pays off.
When her husband goes away on business,
with everybody out of the house, sexual
predator Le Gris, an erudite and exceedingly
crafty man, smitten by Lady Marguerite de
Carrouges (Jodie Comer), turns up at the door
unannounced, refuses to take no for an answer
and commits a despicable act. Carrouges
demands justice for the crime against his wife,
but what he really wants is retribution against
Le Gris, as he’s partly inspired by his vanity
and his believing (sometimes correctly) that
his fellow noblemen are cheating him. Lady
Marguerite is just another piece of property that
others want to take away or ruin for him, it’s
one more public humiliation to overcome.If the story is ugly and frequently,
unexpectedly, hard-hitting, it also has a tension-
relieving vein of black humour that offers a
satirical depiction of mediocre men, with their
insecurities and chest-puffing behaviour openly
mocked. Add to this: exquisite costumes, vivid
period sets and exterior locations, brooding
visuals, excellent performances, fantastic battles
and the nail-biting duel itself.
Matt Damon as meathead Carrouges has
rarely been this good and Adam Driver plays
an irredeemable bastard whose comeuppance
you’ll savour, but it’s Jodie Comer’s Lady
Marguerite, an initially voiceless woman
caught in the middle of a bitter and foolish
feud between two horrible men, threatened
with execution herself, who emerges from
background figure to vital presence. When
she gets to tell her story, we get a much clearer
and truer picture of events, who these men are,
what makes them tick, why they’re so awful,
and why her ordeal is universal. MCTHE LAST DUEL