The Last Duel (2021)

The second Ridley Scott release within the space of just a few weeks, his loosely based on a true story film tells the tale of a knight (Matt Damon, sporting a quite outrageous mullet) who challenges his former friend (Adam Driver) to a judicial duel to the death, after his wife (Jodie Comer) is raped by said friend. Scott chooses to portray the story in a three-way Rashomon (1950) style format, telling the tale from each of the three main characters point of view. It’s no surprise that two of the interpretations are similar; Comer’s Marguerite has clearly been brutally violated, but Jacques (Driver) insists that she only put up mild resistance because she wanted it to happen. So there’s not much mystery here; whichever person is telling the truth, it’s still appalling. I’ve heard some claim that The Last Duel is problematic because of the story itself, accusing the characters (and therefore, history itself) of being exploitative. It’s an incredibly flimsy shot at the film. It seems that these particular people are shocked at the actions of humanity in 1386. Well, shock horror; times were different. It’s akin to accusing the 1960’s James Bond films of being misogynistic. We know they were, but you’re essentially having a go at the sixties for being the sixties (although of course, we hear every day about numerous people attempting to deny or change the past. It’s just not reality.) So this isn’t an issue with The Last Duel, and I didn’t find the nasty scenes controversial, they were just plain nasty, depicting the act as an obviously horrifying and appalling attack for Marguerite. The Last Duel’s shortcomings lie elsewhere, and they are numerous. The flitting about in the first third of the film takes some getting used to, and there’s no time to settle into the characters with the story timeline hopping far too quickly to give us any real depth. As a result, the film is around half an hour too long; a more focused and tight knit first third would have led to a more consistently gripping through line. Scott’s depiction and world building of medieval times is more or less unequaled amongst filmmakers, and even when he’s at his least interesting (Kingdom Of Heaven [2005]) the attention to detail in his worlds is second to none. In this case it’s enough to keep you entertained, alongside the performances, which are solid across the board, especially Jodie Comer. The Last Duel itself, taking up the last quarter of the film, is excellent. There are shades of Scott at his finest (Gladiator [2000]) with the blood shed and barbarism throwing an enthralling sheet over an otherwise fairly mundane and plodding film, despite everyone involved clearly giving their all. Scott is almost always worth a watch, and there’s enough interesting ideas very well executed to give it your time, it’s just a shame they’re at the periphery of the film and not at the center. 6.7/10