The Last Duel trailer

[Timothy Hunter]

It reminded me of the Akira Kurosawa film Rashomon where each character gave their perspective on the events of the story.

[Jim Kelly]

It reminded me of the Akira Kurosawa film Rashomon where each character gave their perspective on the events of the story.

Yes, I'm sure Affleck and Damon had that in mind and maybe the whole reason for writing the script.

Another petty point about language. THE LAST DUEL is set in the late 1300s, and I believe it's the northern region of France, when they spoke Old French or langue d'oïl--which wasn't one form of French but several different dialects spoken across the region--and what even influenced the English language as it existed at that time. Those collective languages became Middle French in the following centuries and then ultimately Modern French (which unlike English was created by academics with lots of rules and restrictions on usage).

At one point in the movie Affleck speaks to Comer in German, which I could understand (so it must have been very simple German). But that form of German didn't exist yet--they probably would have spoken Middle High German.

I guess in theory a director could insist on actors speaking the language of the time and place, but then his name would be Mel Gibson not Ridley Scott.

[Timothy Hunter]

Yes, I'm sure Affleck and Damon had that in mind and maybe the whole reason for writing the script.

Another petty point about language. THE LAST DUEL is set in the late 1300s, and I believe it's the northern region of France, when they spoke Old French or langue d'oïl--which wasn't one form of French but several different dialects spoken across the region--and what even influenced the English language as it existed at that time. Those collective languages became Middle French in the following centuries and then ultimately Modern French (which unlike English was created by academics with lots of rules and restrictions on usage).

At one point in the movie Affleck speaks to Comer in German, which I could understand (so it must have been very simple German). But that form of German didn't exist yet--they probably would have spoken Middle High German.

I guess in theory a director could insist on actors speaking the language of the time and place, but then his name would be Mel Gibson not Ridley Scott.

Yeah, no way are you going to get Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to learn and speak French for a two and a half hour movie.

[godisawesome]

I’ve been thinking over some of the coldness this film got from mainstream audiences and some of its direction and story decisions.

It occurs to me that there was one major change to the story form the historical record, likely done for a specific type of commentary directed at dudes, and with good intentions, that maybe damaged some of the conflict’s emotional equation and possibly even some of the other messages of the film.

To put it briefly… the historical record from Marguerite de Thibouville ‘s testimony, if adapted more faithfully, would totally remove the (still anemic and only applicable in denial) ambiguity in the final film regarding Jacques Le Gris’s assault on her, and fully paint him as uncomplicated in his loathsomeness and crime.

I get why Damon and Affleck wrote Le Gris as more of a stereotypical “Would-Be Nice Guy Lost In His Own Fantasies and Toxic Masculinity,” and it’s not surprising that Adam Driver did that characterization well… but the historical testimony from his victim wouldn’t allow that. There’d be no “Rashomon” here where you can’t tell what happened, who’s at fault, and how horrible they are. Le Gris’s couldn’t lie to himself to the extent he does in the finished film if the testimony were followed.

Keeping it might have modified a big chunk of the film’s emotional undercurrent and reinforced the general message, even at the cost of the “Nice Guys aren’t good people” message meant for dudes. It would have put more venom on tot he audience’s desire to see justice done, and *maybe*, though this ties into how the6 wanted to present the women’s perspective of the film, it would have given Marguerite a bit more active agency in forcing the duel itself, since her testify makes it clear she wanted justice the second the assault was over, and implicitly chose to take the risks of her testimony itself without being surprised at the danger.

[Jim Kelly]

While I'm sure all three had input on all three parts of the screenplay, the third part seems to be where Nicole Holofcener wrote most of the script, rather than Damon or Affleck. They brought her in because they felt that part needed to be written from a woman's point of view.

While it's stated to be the truth--I think that calls attention to itself and might be too arch, making the audience react against it. Movies aren't usually that direct and want you to find the truth of the film for yourself. We reject being told what to think. Either this was clumsy (which I don't think it was) or it was meant to provoke the viewer.

Marguerite had agency to a degree, but ultimately she was living in a time where her fate was beyond her control. We see that she didn't know what would happen to her if de Carrouges should lose the duel. We're left to believe that had she known that earlier, she might have decided not to say anything about the rape.