The Last Duel was made for annoying, self identifying cinephiles

WHAT”S UP YOUTUBE ITS me ya BOY

I only tend to write when I’m drunk, don’t I? I guess it’s a subtle allegory to Steinbeck and Williams (John and Robin, respectively). Anyways, let’s talk about The Last Duel. My first memories of the film were, ‘Good lord that movie is going to be so fucking good, but I know for a fact that I am not going to watch it in the theaters’. And, following that realization, I did not, in fact, see the film in my empty fucking movie theater. Rather, I went to see some other drivel, like No Time to Die, Dune and the critically acclaimed Halloween Kills. 

A movie very obviously meant for movie snobs who are actually quite dumb, but just enjoy feeling like movie snobs by piecing together the very obvious clues left by competent moviemakers.

So the film is told in three chapters, each chapter focusing on the point of view of one pivotal character. The first character is Jean de Carrouges, played by Matt Damon. The second perspective is Le Gris, played by Adam Driver, and the final chapter is by Marguerite de Thibouville, played by Jodie Comer. As you’d expect, each chapter retells the same series of events in each character’s perspectives, giving you an equal amount of time with each individual. The surface story is that Margaret has publicly accused Le Gris of raping her. Margaret’s husband sues for justice and duels Le Gris, as is a customary way of exacting justice back in the fourteenth century. 

Look. If you want to watch a slow, quiet, character film that spends its entire time explaining to the audience exactly why each perspective may be valid, then yeah, go watch this thing. You get very, very valid circumstances for (almost) each character to behave the way they do. The film is very pro-women and is really powerful and nonverbally communicative about women, their experiences, expectations and their interactions with one another. I really enjoyed being able to read the subtext and try to establish their feelings and values as a man. A manly man. I have a beard.

Woke Feminism. UGH.

The film does not hesitate to paint every single man as a complete egotistical, evil little buffoon. The King (who doesn’t matter in this film) is a child who is easily excited by drama. The priests, doctors and clergy are all dispassionate and cruel. Pierre, played by Ben Affleck, is an adultering, selfish, drunken asshole. Le Gris is a womanizer. De Carrouges is egotistical, selfish and brash. There isn’t a single man in this film portrayed in a positive light. I want to be clear, I’m not some moron who thinks, ‘WOW this movie is too woke, I’m sure there were some good men!’. I’m not an incel. There were no good men back then. Everyone was stupid, they all thought God played a legit role in stupid little peoples’ lives, they believed that an orgasm indicated conception, and that women could enjoy rape. Fuck that noise. Logic disproves it, and only self-centered, willfully ignorant morons believe that life has ever been anything but fucking awful for all women, ever. Men suck, my guy. We suck. 

So anyways, as a movie, I think that you’re in for a real treat if you’re interested in studying how to portray perspectives and framing, personalities and interwoven stories. Additionally, the editing is on full display. A sharp-eyed viewer will notice in the first, second, sometimes even the third chapters, when a cut is jarring. You’ll know that there’s some part of this story, perspective or event that is not being shown, either due to the main character’s biases, or because of pure storytelling. Like, we know that a confrontation between de Carrouges and Le Gris has been cut in de Carrouges’ chapter when a discussion ends awkwardly. In Le Gris’ chapter, we get more of this specific event- but we’re now privy to the fact that this isn’t the entire event, conversation and/or interaction. Further, the film takes liberties as well, to sometimes cut blocking, dialogues and even sound out of specific scenes that are shared between chapters. In Le Gris’ chapter, a pivotal moment has key dialogues cut entirely, in addition to the abject blocking and the framing of the camera. In Margaret’s chapter, that same scene has the full, harrowing audio played, along with a tighter blocking of some moments. If you watch the film, it’s not difficult to ascertain the characters’ beliefs, emotions and perspectives due to these differences in filming.

In any case, I think that the film is very good and very mid-level in terms of understanding what’s going on. The Green Knight, as a comparison, is high-level. It had many layers of depth and metaphors to its medieval setting, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit, even though I didn’t understand it all immediately. It allowed liberties in its artistry and imagination to give us these deeper levels and alternate interpretations. The Last Duel is a little more surface level, but it allows casual audiences to pick apart the nuances and nonverbal cues, behaviors and blocking. But, I suspect, it leaves little to be dissected any further than the technical aspects of its editing. Again, the film is (righteously) very pro-women. It’s not feminist per se, but that’s only because I feel uncomfortable taking the liberty to name things as ‘feminist’, considering that I am a man with a very, very large, very girthy and very manly man penis. The film doesn’t shy away from showing men as the insecure douchebags that we can be.

8/10.

The film features themes of rape, female empowerment, and a very graphic, depressing depiction of rape. Bewarned. This is not a boob joke.

You can stream The Last Duel on Hulu or rent it on Vudu.

Wondering how my rating system works? Let me explain!