In a savage medieval epic by Ridley Scott called The Last Duel, Jodie Comer is proving to be an early contender for the Oscar. Based on Eric Jagger’s book, the film tells a story of historical events leading to trial by combat between French knight Jean de Carrouges and his squire Jacques Le Gris who was accused of rape by Marguerite de Carrouges. The Last Duel follows a Rashomon-style narrative in which the sexual assault is examined from different perspectives. Engaging are fierce battle scenes, feudal politics, and religious patriarchy. However, it becomes apparent that there’s a major problem with it right from the start. In simply telling her story as reactive, the movie has marginalized its victim.
Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon), was known as an irascible tough fighter in late 14th century Normandy. He refused to listen to his vassal lord, Count Pierre d’Alençon (Ben Affleck), who was hedonistic and debauched. On the contrary, Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) was considered intelligent and tenacious owing to his attractive appearance. These two were loyal allies on the battlefield but things changed drastically after their arranged marriage.
Marguerite de Thibouville(Jodie Comer) beautiful and sophisticated came from a family with a checkered past. Her father had once been reviled for an earlier crime against France’s monarchy. Marguerite’s substantial dowry could go far for someone else other than her family members if she married Jean de Carrouges.. This would have allowed him to make some money while also clearing out his bloodline…provided he could produce male offspring.. Desire for warfare and raiding always made Jean de Carrouges leave home.The woman looked distrought when he returned Scotland.Jacques Le Gris came during this time.
The production value of The Last Duel is high. Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator) the director takes you back through time to 14th century Normandy. The serfs working in the fields are juxtaposed with the nobles and their ladies at court. But everybody is under bosses who have a way of making them hurt. Jean de Carrouges’ inability to fawn over his lordship turns out to be his worst mistake ever. While Jacque Le Gris manipulates his way into power. It was quite interesting for me noticing political intrigue.Limbs getting chopped off by swords, eyes being gouged out, and jousting were all part of it.Scott’s unexpected deep dive into feudalism made my day.
Medieval women had no recourse against sexual violence except through a man willing to fight for them.This also put both at risk of death.Jodie Comer puts in a sensational performance.Most importantly,she does not get enough screen time but she makes an emotional impression.The plot depended on what happened to her by two-thirds of the male lead characters.I think there was some method behind this decision.The Last Duel portrays the church as wicked and demonstrates how society’s misogynistic infrastructure undervalued women.Then gives her the shortest chapter to express the horror of being brutally raped and its fearful aftermath.As such, this would appear like an oversight that indicates these filmmakers failed to learn from their teachings. Produced by Pearl Street Films and Scott Free Productions, The Last Duel will be theatrically released on October 15th by 20th Century Studios.
Watch free movies on Fmovies
