Rent The Last Duel (2021)

An exceptional medieval epic you will not forget, not that well-served by its 3-part structure - The Last Duel review by Philip in Paradiso

This is the story of the last duel of the medieval period in France (1386) that took place between 2 noblemen from Normandy (in France): Matt Damon as Sir Jean de Carrouges and Adam Driver as Jacques Le Gris. At the start, the 2 men are friends who take part in various battles of the Hundred Years' War between England and France on the side of the French king. However, over time, they fall out and become enemies: Jean de Carrouges feels that Jacques Le Gris has been unduly rewarded (with land holdings and an official position) at his expense. The last straw is when Jean de Carrouges' wife, Jodie Comer as Marguerite de Carrouges, accuses Le Gris of having raped her. Le Gris denies it. De Carrouges challenges him to a judicial duel. The duel is sanctioned by the king and actually happened (the whole story is true): it is very well documented. The idea was that, whoever survived the fight to the death would have told the truth before God, hence the other one was a liar, was guilty and deserved to die.

The film is very good mostly, in my opinion, on 2 levels. First of all, it re-creates the atmosphere, culture, hierarchies and mores of the Middle Ages in a way that seems quite accurate and realistic to me. This is quite rare for a big-budget movie like this. Second, the acting is extremely good - more particularly that of Matt Damon, as the humiliated husband who wants revenge, and Jodie Comer, as the wife who wants justice. (Incidentally, her part is far from minor in the film, and neither is her point of view with regard to the whole story, contrary to what some reviewers have written.) On this basis, the film could easily have been outstanding.

Unfortunately, there are several flaws in the way that the story is presented. The main one, as pointed out by other contributors on this site, is that the story is presented in 4 parts: the story as told from the husband's point of view; as told from the defendant's point of view; and as told from the wife's point of view; with, finally, the fight between Le Gris and his accuser (which is part of Chapter 3). This makes the story repetitive and, almost, over time, tedious. It feels laborious and contrived. It is a huge and incomprehensible mistake that Ridley Scott made, because it slows down the film in a terrible way and kills the pace of the story to a large extent. The other thing it does is make the film longer than it needs to be, at 2 1/2 hours. Finally, the story takes place in France but the characters speak with a mixture of English and American accents, which does feel weird at times!

Still, the initial presentation of the story and of the characters, at the beginning, and the last 45 mins or so, including the breathtaking duel at the end, are exceptionally good. Of the 3 versions of the story, that presented by the wife is, in fact, overall, the most interesting, credible and moving. So, on balance, I do recommend the film, but one can only regret the format chosen by the director. Without this bizarre choice, the movie could have been a masterpiece.

If you want to read up on the true story, do so after watching the film. Here, for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_de_Carrouges

Repetitive and dull - The Last Duel review by Alphaville

One story told three ways by each of the protagonists, but Rashomon it isn’t. The first telling is all scene-setting, pompous score, horse-riding and in-yer-face medieval fighting with spurting cgi blood. The second and third retellings are little differentiated and the stilted dialogue soon becomes wearing.

This is the sort of tale that needs an Anthony Mann with his knack for shooting epic landscapes with figures. The final duel is not a patch on the one in ‘El Cid’. Director Ridley Scott suddenly switches to hand-held shaky-cam like in some two-bit action movie. And we don’t even care who wins.

Rape? It is just what soldiers do. - The Last Duel review by RW

I don't understand why this film has an 18 rating. A bit of dry humping; a bit of bloody battle; a swear word or three; otherwise pretty mild by today's standards.

Very interesting court scene where the defence quotes the known fact that conception cannot be achieved without climax by the woman. As the accuser is sitting there obviously pregnant, she must have consented so rape did not occur. QED.

It could easily cut any two of the three who-done-what accounts of the rape - they were so similar.

An entertaining film if a bit slow.

Dreary - The Last Duel review by SC

Pretty with no story, no characters and illogical jumps between locations. We gave up after 30 minutes and have watched many 2hr+ films

Rubbish! - The Last Duel review by Mc

Old age has finally set in with Scott. I was expecting some thing of the standard of Kingdom of Heaven. I was sadly disappointed. I know the story very well and thought Scott would make good use of it. The fight scene t the end is without doubt the best part of the movie. Special praise to the horses and their splendid armour Avoid like the plaque!

boring - The Last Duel review by WW

it maybe ok for history nuts but i was so bored after the first 30min and gave up, was over enthralled about the story the script ot even the acting, wish i had not bothered

So boring and obvious - The Last Duel review by AM

So boring and obvious. I am told to write at least one hundred words to make this count, so here they are:

So boring and obvious 

So boring and obvious 

So boring and obvious 

So boring and obvious  

So boring and obvious

So boring and obvious 

So boring and obvious