The Last Duel

It's 14th century France. Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) are comrades-in-arms and best of friends. They are given a new lord in Count Pierre d'Alençon (Ben Affleck). While Jacques becomes the Count's favorite, Jean falls further and further out of favor. It doesn't help that Jean has married Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) which leads to complications.

This is directed by Ridley Scott. The structure divides the movie into three chapters. Each chapter takes the point of view from Jean, Jacques, and finally Marguerite. This is good but the Rashomon structure does lead to the feeling of repetition. Then there are the two scenes devoted to the central issue. The one depicting Jacques' point of view needs to be more on his side. After all, this is a case of his says, she says. The two sections leave the question as a degree rather than a decision. There is no question to the basic case. That may be deliberate but it does not increase the tension. The intensity needs to be higher although I do like the actual duel. There is a reality in the brutal repeated battering.

The basic motif to admire this film is the image of Dariusz Wolski. Earth colors, falls and early springs, winter and tones of browns and gray.

The second is the acting and the most impressive work seems be by Jodie Comer.

Not the last - the force of gifts and precision of Ridley Scott to propose a beautiful exploration of contemporary problems.

It is an impressive film for themes and for dialogues , for confrontations and fight scenes and for the wake up of truths. A Medieval story very modern in its fundamental traits. A chain of confirmations about actors talent, an admirable construction of the motives, reactions and answers of characters.

Short, a great film and proof of a provocative art of unique director.

If you are blown away by her performance in killing eve get ready to be blown away again by her worthy of an Oscar performance in the last duel , her character is the exact opposite of villanelle and she is equally believable playing this sympathetic character to the point of breaking your heart , she absolutely stole the show , I am so glad she is starting to capitalize on the success of killing eve and getting to play big parts in great movies like this one .

Seen the film at a screening at the Venice Film Festival.

Even if there is no way of telling that what The Last Duel portrays is entirely how the events took place, or as authentic as it seems to be in depicting middle ages, one thing is certain: it belongs to Ridley Scott's better works, and proves that the 84-year-old filmmaker is still able to deliver memorable films.

The dramatization takes on a three act narrative frame that resembles partly that of Kurosawa's masterpiece Rashomon: three chapters narrate the events, each from the point of view of one of the three protagonists, the two duellists and Marguerite.

The film clearly seeks a historical authenticity, and seems to succeed at achieving it. The almost word-by-word, blow-by-blow adherence to the accounts of the duel seem to confirm such an achievement, and is in a way reminiscent of Scott's debut film The Duellists, known for its methodical reconstruction.

The true essence of this film's stance is the idea that through the study of history more can be learnt about the contemporary world, the past as a mirror of the present.

The Last Duel is, in the end, a film that deals with the present by showing the past, and does so in an exquisite and entertaining fashion.

(extract from my review on comeandreview)

Story starts well but then begins to drag about half-way through and moves like molten lead from there until the end. The three perspectives do not add any depth, with each retelling being a very predictable retelling of events already heard. I did not feel that I learned anything new, different, or deeper with each retelling. Instead I got the same story from a pretty predictable and cliched perspective of the next involved individual. Thats it. Felt like a really long watch. I found myself just trying to gut it out. All that said it's an ok movie, just not much more which was a little disappointing given the star power involved. Adam Driver does a good job, and so do most of the cast - really thought the actors did the most with what they had to work with. The story is a good one, the screenplay misses the mark though and maybe so too did the overall interpretation of the events. Movie was at its best when revealing life in the early Middle Ages. Was at its worst when attempting to make grand morality statements - just a pretty obvious and much too shallow treatment of medieval customs, code, and morals - all placed in a one-dimensional lens. The soundtrack was predictable and a rough listen at times.