I don't think Den of Geek really understands that it was never Disney/20th intentions to make a gazillion bucks from this film. They could also easily have moved the picture to a quieter weekend and spent some money marketing the picture if box office gross alone was their main concern.
Quote from: Some Old Dude on Oct 21, 2021, 06:23:12 AM
I think he made the right choice stripping the ambiguity away with the third act. It's essentially about the first woman to famously speak out against sexual assault from a man in a position of power. There's no need to question her legitimacy for the purpose of the narrative given what the modern parallels of the movie are.
Yeah it does give the movie a more powerful ending, if people were left scratching their heads it would deflate the ending a bit I think.
On the other hand, an ambiguous ending would have given people a lot to talk about and discuss afterwards. Historically, the entire Kingdom of France was pretty evenly split in opinion as to who was telling the truth even after the duel. The discourse lasted for centuries.
Jean Le Coq (Le Gris' lawyer) personal diary still survives today. In it he confided that "no-one really knew the truth of the matter". Consider that Le Coq was the best lawyer money could buy back then and consider that these high-powered defense attorneys usually have a very good idea as to their clients guilt or innocence.
But in real life Le Gris claimed (and had several high-profile alibi's) that he was quite far away from Marguerite when the rape occurred. But with the movie version of Le Gris claiming that he "loved her" and had supposed "consensual" intercourse (in his mind, despite her protestations), it completely changes the story. You can't really do "ambiguous" with that anymore.
New BTS: