Ridley Scott returned to the front of the stage this autumn with The Last Duel. This feature, inspired by real facts, traces the story of three late 14th century figures through chapters that respond in mirror. Three distinct perspectives on the same drama: the alleged rape of Marguerite de Carrouges. Through the game of editing, Ridley Scott brought the spectator to the end known as one of the last legal duels authorized in 1386. He opposed the rivals John of Carrouges and the favourite of Count Peter II of Alençon, Jacques Le Gris, who allegedly raped the wife of the first. More than a duel to death or an umpteenth peplum pretext for homicidal battles, The Last Duel First of all addresses the condition of the woman in the Middle Ages by the prism of a trial, which in some respects still sadly echoes our times.
With knives drawn
Instead of serving exclusively his hemoglobin and action film, the director of Gladiator prefers a societal approach highlighting the morals of the time. The spectacular battles are only outlined in order to trace the stakes of the Hundred Years War. We will briefly witness some well-known events of the 14th century such as the Limoges bag or the Scottish debacle. At first glance, the first chapter seems a bit confusing because of an expeditious chronological montage with, in the background, the internal wars between the Kingdom of England and France. It is gradually understood that it is a choice of realization to oppose the different versions of Carrouges, Legris and Marguerite on the same intimate events that bind them. Each chapter finally completes the reading grid which the viewer will then interpret according to the puzzle which he would like to conclude.
As often when it comes to representing the past, fantasies and anachronisms could sometimes have taken precedence over historical reality. Without aiming for a pure and perfect realism - the film claims only to be inspired by real facts- Ridley Scott does not fall into the trap of the backward representation of the Middle Ages, so often fed up between the lips of the current French presidency. He may be criticized for choosing the English language rather than French, but it was probably the compromise of a good English cast: Matt Damon in the role of Carrouges guided by the quest for recognition and vanity of the fighter, Ben Affleck unrecognizable with her blonde hair in decadent chamberlain or even Adam Driver who plays the role of Jacques Legris, squire in the air of achievement, far from the battlefields conquered by his rival.
Jodie Comer A remarkable performance is made with several degrees of reading once the three chapters have been combined. Each of them, question Marguerite's consent according to the respective views of the husband, the aggressor and then the victim. If casting And the commercials had a fierce rivalry between Legris and Carrouge, it was finally Marguerite who held the high dracée of the last duel.
God Will Recognize His Own
The system of judgment of the bilateral ordeal, also called the judicial duel, allowed the judge to hand over to a superior force: the destiny commanded by the divine will. Far from our secular jurisprudence that separates temporal from spiritual, impotent judges in the face of the impossible proof were here at the end of the fight as echoing God's sentence. Ridley Scott seems to have well integrated the accounts and testimonies relating to the case before the Paris Parliament, the first court of justice in the Kingdom and the premise of a proto-state of law still embryonic.
The magistrates seem to be annoyed by the fact that the duels have fallen into disuse, the last dating back about thirty years. Only the young king and the crowd seem to be excited about the idea of a new game. All forms are scrupulously respected and we find traditional practices of the challenge represented by the Carrouges glove thrown down and picked up by Legris as described by the medieval chronicler Jean Froissart.
More than anything else, the rape of the lady of Carrouges takes a political turn on the condition of the victim. She will be accused of having in the past publicly expressed the fact that her attacker was attractive, even though she actually gave in to her advances. A classic that we know only too well today or the choice to systematically postpone the burden of sexual intercourse on women. Her own friend will betray her by giving this unfavorable testimony, as if this type of comment absolved the perpetrator of any subsequent guilt. The trial is probably one of the most icy moments, when one reads on the face of Marguerite the untenable posture of the victim, who must prove his lack of consent to an aggressor who is content with silence.
Each question is a prank in front of Legris, who denies as a whole and enjoys the unconditional support of Peter II of Alençon. She must also stand up to her husband, motivated exclusively by the reconquest of her dishonest honour. Marguerite may stake him for false testimony, if Carrouges does not triumph with duel. She carries a child of unknown father and her destiny is cynically in the hands of men. Margrerite, with her head high, gives her husband the blow of grace the day before the duel:
« It is my life you risk to destroy your enemy and save your honor. Our son could become an oprhelin. You didn't think about it? You're a hypocrite, you're blinded by your vanity. »
By confronting the three chapters, Ridley Scott does not hesitate to betray the traditional film pact with the spectator. By varying the representations of the same scenes according to the characters, a beginning of truth emerges. Rape is represented from the perspective of the aggressor and then the victim. We get carried away until the final trial. If the case is still historically the subject of disputes over Marguerite's proven or unproven rape, the choice to make Marguerite a sensitive figure of feminism is a narrative opportunity that had to be seized.
Empathy wins us when we witness powerless the fate of the heroine, raped by her husband's rival, himself much more concerned about his inheritance than the desires of his own wife. Sometimes imprisoned when Carrouges goes into battle, sometimes taken in vice by her cruel mother-in-law obsessed with her offspring, which she still lacks, Marguerite's character still shows that the fate of women in the Middle Ages is not enviable. From the negotiation of the dowry to the succession that its dealers hope prolific, his room for manoeuvre is minimal. Its role is finally reduced to that of a matrix with only the production of a quantitative and exclusively male progeny.
The eternal myth of the woman who resists
The representations of the two rivals are also rich in teachings. The aggressor sees the scene as a game when he pursues it in the castle, convinced that his love suffices to assume the consent of Margueritte even though he would abuse her. Women's resistance is like the sexual representations of the beginning of cinema. If the Woman resists the charms of James Bond in Goldfinger, it is only because she repulses her unfavorable desire to yield to fleshly sin as a sex scene today impossible in the post period Me too.
As for Carrouges's vision, it is a reflection of the values of the preux Chevalier, while Marguerite's ultimate version presented at the end of the film differs radically from the other two, putting almost back to back his two executioners. The crime of romantic self-abused is only a decline in the marital rape of Carrouges. While his protector, Pierre, connivingly questions him about what really happened, Legris defends himself:
« Of course, she protested like any woman of her rank. It wasn't against her will. Why would I do that? Do I miss the women's company? »
Legris will even confess, but for adultery and not rape. The denial is total and the complicity of his eloquent protector: « I know you want to defend your honor, but the common mortals are not capable of such nuances. He doesn't see the world as us. He needs bad guys and heroes, that's all. Niez, deny, deny! ». The reversal of the roles of the perpetrator of the crime, suddenly precipitated as a victim is still as lively today.
For the (presumed) authors, it is that it is primarily a matter of reputation, of Darmanin who responded by slanderous denunciation, to Bourdin passing through PPDA And so many other anonymous suspects. As for the archaism of the perseverance of resistance as the key to the characterization of rape, this is again an Arlesian who will still find himself centuries later in life. The Encyclopedia and watermarks until our time in the case Georges Tron.
« Resistance must also have been persevering until the end, for if only initial efforts had been made, it would not be the case of rape, nor of the penalty attached to this crime.»
Like a trial in which witness, plaintiff and defendant express themselves, the performance takes an intimate part in the plot which is shown to be piece by piece. While some scenes are not always very subtle like Marguerite's somewhat candid passage of regency in the absence of her husband, the whole remains very credible. The atmosphere is amplified by a photograph with splendid blue tones during the confrontations or panoramas of the principalities against a more felted palette inside. The few short scenes of battles are among the most successful in recent years and do not have to blush against those of the series Game of Thrones. The last duel should serve as a reference for a moment. The movement is permanent and each plane, by its power, erases the previous one.
It is also a clear success for costumes or scenes of life in society that have had to demand a titanium work upstream. It is not always obvious to succeed in holding the viewer in breath by repeating three times the same facts from different perspectives. And yet the two thirty hours are marked by a steady rhythm, without ever falling into gratuity. Carried by an exemplary achievement, The Last Duel is an effective drama and a modern rereading of one of the last duels of the Middle Ages that was the subject of many chronicles.
Powerful testimony about the burden of the victim, The Last Duel reminds us that the search for justice is a cross road for those who are still subjected to sexual assault. From the inquisitorial look of the relatives to the judge who questions the depth of the corset neckline yesterday or the size of the skirt today, the culture of rape finds root in our patriarchal society. The opportunity of a single criminal model that is far too burdensome for victims of such harm can be questioned in the mirror. While the executioner will claim his innocence until his last breath like Legris, it is our collective relationship to each other that we must no doubt reverse in order to promote both speech and awareness.
I'm gonna watch it this weekend, you convinced me!
On the projector, it was a 4k treat! He also has a very successful aesthetic and it's nice to see Adam Driver released from the Star Wars franchise.
We saw it at the movies with my wife and it's a very big Ridley Scott.
I watched him yesterday and what a movie! The talk echoes so much the sad news, and this final tension, I could feel my heart vibrating in my chest! Really a great movie.
It's really nice also the first moments when you realize the dissonance between the words reported and the three versions of the characters. Ridley Scott plays with a lot of movie codes.
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