Quote from: Stolen on Sep 11, 2021, 02:50:09 PM
This is more interesting than the reviews of Guardian, which focuses on the hairstyles of the characters. Seriously...
Yeah, they sound more like serious art-film critics. Most of these big mainstream outlets are the kind of places that praise the latest Marvel films.
Quote from: Andrea90 on Sep 11, 2021, 07:52:14 AM
Very femminist i mean that they consider Spoiler
only the version of Marguerite like THE TRUTH, when also in the book (that i've read) the author however says more times that no one could know really the truth. They could do like Rashomon, so the person who see the film can decide what version is the truth on his own, not like this.
That's my gripe as well. It would have been much more interesting
Spoiler
if Le Gris' guilt was much more ambiguous, giving people something to discuss for years after the film's release. Kind of like the "is Deckard a replicant" question.
It is what I thought they were going to do but I don't think they ultimately had the guts to do it. It would probably have raised too much controversy in this day and age.
Deadline's review. Good to see they finally figured out who Affleck is playing as well as the correct plot of the film.
Quote from: DeadlineEveryone has their own truth, as they say, but some of those truths are considerably truer than others. Old pals Matt Damon and Ben Affleck join forces with established indie filmmaker Nicole Holofcener to adapt a true story – that of Marguerite de Carrouges, a 14th century French noblewoman who was raped by an old friend of her husband's – and tell it from three different angles in Ridley Scott's The Last Duel. A form inspired by the great Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, those angles express each person's understanding – or wishful thinking – about the truth and its consequences.
Jean de Carrouges (Damon), a fighting man wronged by someone he has long regarded as treacherous, learns his wife has been raped and seeks vengeance. The film's first chapter, which has the familiar feel of a Saturday afternoon historical romance, belongs to him. Jacques le Gris (Adam Driver) a libertine and favored fixer and drinking partner to the local lord (Ben Affleck), is confounded to see his spurious good name dragged through the mud as Marguerite publicly accuses him. He knew she was up for it. "Of course, she put up the customary objections. She is a lady," he shrugs. To him belongs the second part.
And then there is the story given voice by Marguerite (Jodie Comer), traded into marriage by her father, treated as an agreeable pitstop – on good days, or perhaps only in his version of events – by her husband and then reviled as a temptress, liar and manipulator of men when she dares to speak of these things about which more judicious women remain decorously silent. Nobody has ever bothered in the past to notice her truth: the way she grits her teeth as she endures her husband's attentions, her unused intelligence, her loneliness on an isolated estate. So far, so much medieval #MeToo. It is all enormously well-intentioned.
The Last Duel, which is world premiering out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, is also very handsomely presented. There is no mistaking who is calling the shots here. Arise, Sir Ridley! Here be massive vistas, elaborately crenellated castles that loom suddenly into view and a giddying variety of angles provided by the multiple cameras he trains on every scene. There are tremendous fighting sequences, with knights in armor and their horses rolling in the dirt, sometimes in slow motion, hacking at each other with broadswords. Life is nasty, brutish and usually short, but veiled here with the gentle mistiness of long ago.
See, too, Scott's trademark vertiginous crane shots, in which the camera soars skywards to look down on a teeming jousting arena or a medieval village reconstructed as meticulously as the hand-painted signals and sidings on an electric train set. Descending rapidly to ground level with another swoop of the crane, we catch sight of a goose girl urging her unruly flock across a boggy yard; pigs are rooting on the opposite side on the other side of the screen. In a Ridley Scott film, every detail is part of a very big picture, the kind of big picture that will never get small.
But while it may be churlish to say it, there is also a nagging sense that this is all the backdrop to a story about things we already know – and which we are then being told three times over, into the bargain. Haven't we all learned at school that women in the Middle Ages (and for centuries afterwards) were the legal property of their male guardians, making the rape of a woman a crime against the responsible man? There is a moment when this is delivered as a shocking truth, but it isn't a shock. We are just waiting for the characters on screen to catch up with us.
That wouldn't matter if there were more subtlety or nuance in the telling, some delving into the texture of these distant lives, something that makes us gasp with recognition that yes, this is what it was like and this is how it felt. Rashomon may have inspired the story, but this is like the paper that Rashomon came wrapped in, a costume drama with modern relevance detailed in a highlighter pen. Everyone is locked up in the tragedy of their circumstances, but you don't feel it; Scott ensures that events rollick along in triplicate too briskly to be bogged down in sentiment. All the way to the last duel itself – which is, of course, spectacular.
https://deadline.com/2021/09/the-last-duel-movie-review-ridley-scott-matt-damon-adam-driver-jodie-comer-1234830955/
IGN's review 8/10
Quote from: IGNThe Last Duel takes us back to a dark chapter in French history as director Ridley Scott strikes an unforgiving tone for this tale of gruesome, bloody combat. Based on true events, the film's grim story and overwhelming bleak atmosphere sets the stage for an emotional tale of one woman's fight for justice in the face of honor, duty, and so-called chivalry.
Fourteenth century France can be a hostile place – especially for a woman. This is even more true for a woman accusing a man of rape, as Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) soon finds out. Although The Last Duel largely focuses on how this plays out in a medieval court, it opens with the cut and thrust of the titular last duel. It's certainly serious business, as knights Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques LeGris (Adam Driver) gear up for a fight to the death. It's all in the name of honor – Jacques has been accused of raping his former friend's wife. But hold your horses, as there's a lot more at stake than meets the eye.
After giving us a brief yet brutal glimpse of the duel that's about to ensue, takes us back to the very beginning, telling the story in several chapters. Breaking it down by individual testimony, we watch the same story unfold several times. First, we see the truth according to Jean de Carrouges, followed by that of the accused, Jacques LeGris. Finally, the whole truth is revealed by none other than Jacques' victim, Marguerite de Carrouges. At first glance, it may seem like a labored way to tell this story, but it's used to sublime effect, highlighting the unreliable nature of each man's version of events as they bend and twist the truth to suit their own ends. It's a damning examination of both Jean and Jacques as their individual character flaws are laid bare. The first scene in both of their testimonies underscores this perfectly – an epic, sweeping battle sees both men claiming to have saved the life of the other. Clearly, they both want to paint themselves as the heroes of their own story, and by basking in heroic light, they embody the very meaning of honor and chivalry. At least, that's how they see themselves.
Soon enough, even bigger cracks begin to form between each man's version of events. Jean enamours us with a love story: a chance meeting with Marguerite unfolding as the pair relishes in the smaller, more intimate moments with a glance here, a knowing smile there. Meanwhile, Jacques paints a very different picture. His story depicts Jean as a cold, callous man with very little love for his wife. Instead, Jacques says it is he who really loves Marguerite... and he claims that she feels the same.
These discrepancies are played perfectly all round by Comer, Damon, and Driver. The real cleverness in Scott's approach to this story is in how its relationships change in the most subtle of ways from one version to the next.
The coy flirting between Jean and Marguerite becomes a "strange match" when Jacques recounts his story. And while there's undeniable chemistry between Comer and Driver – especially in Jacques' version of events – this soon breaks down into a gruelling, hard-hitting depiction of rape by the time Marguerite gets to tell her story.
Ridley Scott sets an unforgiving tone for this tale of gruesome, bloody combat.
Scott doesn't shy away from the brutal, horrific nature of it, either. Instead, you're forced to face the reality of Marguerite's full testimony, watching in horror as it all unfolds. This, too, changes from one account to the next – Marguerite recounts a harrowing moment when she fights back against Jacques' violent demands. However, Jacques claims that it was all consensual, and merely the "customary protest" of a married woman who has fallen in love with another man.
Comer is the standout star here, vacillating in each account between dutiful wife, adulterous woman, and world-weary rape victim as the scene demands, playing each with staggering realism. But the question remains – will Marguerite de Carrouges find justice?
There is no right," remarks Jean's mother (Harriet Walter). "There is only the power of men."
That's essentially what The Last Duel boils down to: a fight between two men to determine the veracity of a woman's rape claim. It's a stark and self-aware reminder of the struggle that many women face, even today. As much a cautionary tale as a legendary one, the seriousness of the story is backed by its atmospheric setting. Scott uses a palette of subdued greys and stony castle walls to create a grim, almost claustrophobic feel. You can feel the weight of the film's world in almost every scene.
That said, a memorable performance by Ben Affleck as the eccentric (and thoroughly debauched) Count Pierre d'Alençon adds a touch of levity when it's needed most. The foul-mouthed slurs of a nobleman who does as he pleases break up the often grinding tone of the movie, while a glimpse of his bedroom antics reminds us that even the noble house is not without corruption.
The Last Duel is a masterclass in slow-burn storytelling, allowing its complex plot to unfold naturally over three distinct chapters. Re-treading that story from different perspectives allows Ridley Scott to break down the virtues of those involved, calling them into question as they're put under the spotlight.
The Last Duel is a masterclass in slow-burn storytelling.
Throw in some sweeping, epic battle scenes for good measure and you have an almost scientific examination of the medieval historical epic. But it's far more than that – it's also a keen look at a moment in French history which reflects the struggles women face to this day.
Verdict
The Last Duel is a gruelling watch and certainly not for the faint-hearted. However, it rewards you with social commentary that's as relevant today as in 14th century France. Alongside some stellar performances from Jodie Comer, Matt Damon, and Adam Driver, The Last Duel offers several bloody, brutal battle scenes and a fierce final duel that's up there among director Ridley Scott's finest fight scenes.
https://www.ign.com/articles/the-last-duel-review?utm_source=twitter
