The Last Duel

The most terrifying story you're likely to hear at the movies in October will likely not involve any ghosts, or even the return of Michael Myers.  More likely, it will be the one contained within The Last Duel of Marguerite de Thibouville (played brilliantly by Jodie Comer), who found herself a victim of rape during the Middle Ages, a time when it was likely not just to not believe the woman, but to almost make a public spectacle out of it, having the woman's husband and her presumed rapist duel to the death for the entertainment of the King and locals.  The public cheer the two men on, while Marguerite is forced to watch, knowing that if her husband loses the jousting battle, she will not only be deemed a liar "in the eyes of God", but that she will be publicly executed for her "crimes".  

Her story makes this often overlong (two and a half hours) and at times muddled film adaptation directed by Ridley Scott, and co-written by two of the film's stars, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (their first script since Good Will Hunting), worth watching, as does Comer's sensational turn.  Just two months after she impressed as Ryan Reynolds' love interest in Free Guy, here she is with an Oscar-worthy dramatic turn.  When the movie is focused solely on her, it achieves some truly great moments of acting and suspense.  However, for whatever reason, the film does not center squarely on her story, even though it is the most gripping of the ones it tells.  Instead, it decides to tell the story from two other viewpoints, both of her husband (played by Damon), and his friend-turned-rival (Adam Driver), who is the one suspected of raping her.  We get the whole story told from each character, and this leads to some repetition and a dragged out narrative, when it is Marguerite's view that is the most satisfying.

Damon and Driver play French noblemen, though with their American accents constantly slipping through, it's sometimes a bit hard to buy.  Damon is Jean de Carrouges, a respected soldier on the battlefield in the Hundred Years War who has built up a close friendship with Driver's Jacques Le Gris.  Both are real life figures, though they never quite come across as three dimensional portrayals, as the actors play them rather one note here.  But when Le Gris becomes the favorite of Count Pierre d’Alençon (Ben Affleck, sporting platinum blonde hair, and bringing some welcome mean-spirited humor to his role), and Carrouges finds out that the land that was supposed to be given to him as a dowry for marrying Marguerite has been given to Le Gris instead by the Count, it begins a long-brewing feud, culminating with Marguerite accusing Le Gris of raping her while she was alone in their house without the servants.  

The movie is divided into three separate chapters, with the events leading up to the fateful event being told from the different views of the characters.  All of these are supposed to raise questions within the audience as to just who is telling the truth, until the movie flat-out tells us with the title card for the third chapter, which is Marguerite's side of the story.  Before that, we get the stories of both men, and we see how they twist certain events (such as a heroic day on the battlefield) to their particular whim.  It's also interesting to see how a single event is interpreted by these men.  But more often than not, the style of going back and repeating the same scene, only from a different point of view, proves repetitive.  It is not until the film's third chapter, focused on Marguerite, that the movie truly finds its power and becomes completely engaging.  Before then, its power is delivered in fits and starts.

The Last Duel does make the mistake of keeping Comer's performance somewhat on the sidelines for a majority of the film, but once she is finally allowed to take center stage, it not only works, but it works so brilliantly that you wonder why the script did not just focus on her to start with.  Her story brings about the most emotionally shattering moments, as she lives in a time when rape against a woman was not a crime against the woman, rather it was a crime against the husband, as she was his property.  She finds her female friends turning against her for speaking out about what happened to her, as it was "proper" to remain silent.  In one chilling scene, her cold and distant mother-in-law (Harriet Walter) flat-out tells her that being raped is almost expected if you are a woman.  It happened to her once as well, and she has simply lived with it her whole life.

This is ultimately a greatly effective film that simply takes quite a while to find its footing.  It's a slow burn movie that you really have to stick with, as it leads up to some truly sensational moments, including the titular duel that closes out the film, which is horrifically brutal and sad.  Before it finds its proper tone and point and view, it can be a bit tedious.  The movie probably could have used some more editing to get to the truly great material faster.  Still, I must honestly say that it is worth waiting for.  If 2021 is not remembered in terms of movies of the year Jodie Comer became a star, then there is little justice in the cinematic landscape.  Even if the film itself remained a mess throughout its entire running time, it would have been worth watching for her.

High praise, perhaps, but she deserves it with the year she has been having.  She is a big part as to why The Last Duel works in the end, and why I am recommending it wholeheartedly.  Despite its flaws, there is some undeniable greatness here, and not just from her, but from the film itself once it finds the angle it should have been taking all along.

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