Contemporary 2021 Selection: The Last Duel

 Ridley Scott's "The Last Duel"

Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Nicole Holofcener adapted the 2004 novel "The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France" into this Ridley Scott directed historical epic, released in 2021. The film tells the story of the rape of Marguerite de Carrouges. The scipt splits the story into three chapters, each told from the perspective of the parties involved: Jean de Carrouges - a knight of the French empire; Marguerite de Carrouges - his wife; and Jacques Le Gris - Jean's best friend and squire. Affleck, Damon, and Holofcener were said to have been inspired by Akira Kurosawa's 'Rashomon' when writing the script, using split narratives to tell differing perspectives on the event. 

The first narrative is that of Jean de Carrouges. Jean is known for his combat abilities and his fiery temper. After King Charles VI names his cousin Count Pierre d'Alencon overlord over Jean and Jacques Le Gris, they must swear fealty. This event is the ignition point for driving the two men apart. Jacques becomes a financial officer to d'Alencon, thereby forcing him to demand war levies of Jean - which Jean lacks the funds to pay. In order to secure assets to pay off his debts, Jean marries Marguerite de Thibouville, whose father is providing Jean with a large dowery which includes valuable estates. However, after learning that Count Pierre has gifted Jacques those estates, Jean believes that Jacques is manipulating the Count to gain wealth and power. This begins Jean's notion that Jacques is becoming actively antagonistic towards him. This only becomes worse when Jacques is appointed as captain of a fort that Jean's family has held for generations. It becomes readily apparent that the chapter containing Jean's persepctive stems from the fued between him and Jacques. Jean is trying to keep his honor and his house in order and keeps getting undermined by Jacques and the Count. After Jean is knighted for his bravery in the campaign against Scotland, he returns home to find that Jacques has raped his wife. Because of Jean's continued belief that Jacques is being actively antagnonistic towards him, this seems to be the final nail in that coffin. Jean demands a trial by combat to protect his honor.

The second perspective comes from Jacques Le Gris, who begins by gaining the trust of the Count by taking care of his finances and collecting debts owed to him. Using his new positions, Jacques seems to try and help Jean, only to be showered with gifts by the Count, leading Jean to openly throw a tantrum. Jean's tamtrum makes him the laughing stock of the court. After seeing Marguerite, he believes that she is coming on to him. They bond over their intelligence, as Jacques becomes aware of her husband's illiteracy. Jacques seems to be driven by the need to prove himself intellectually - both by assisting the Count in his finances and bonding with Marguerite over literature. Jacques begins to fall in love with her and believes that she is falling in love with him as well. Because of his renouned sex excapades, Jacques sees no trouble in confronting Marguerite sexually. He believes that because she is married, her rejections are simply to keep her honor. He believes that she truly loves him and therefore no rape occured. He accepts Jean's challenege to a duel to protect his honor, as he truly belives in his own innocence. 

The final persepecitve of the film is that of Marguerite - whose story is true, as the film openly points out by leaving the words 'The Truth' after the words 'According to Marguerite de Carrouges' fade away during the titles for the third chapter. Where Jean's perspective was about him trying to prove his honor and valor, and Jacques's persepctive was about him trying to prove his intelligence and worth, Marguerite's provides an additional scope of context for the two. Through Marguerite, it becomes clear that Jean was not adequately keeping up with his estate, often neglecting to collect taxes and not properly taking care of the crops. It becomes apparent that Jean's own neglectfulness over these things is what forced him into his financial holes - thereby creating the pushback to prove himself. Through Marguerite, we learn that Jean was the cause of his own suffering and resentment. We also learn about Jacques's misguided belief in her love of him. The two men's lack of awareness is what caused the issues they found themselves in throughout the story - each blaming the other for their own setbacks. However, it is Margurite who is forced to suffer the consequences of their lack of vision. Not only is she raped by Jacques, but is forced to carry his child and face criticism from her friends, family, and the courts. Because of this, she becomes the target of malicious resentment - not the men. 

The film forces the viewer to pick up the pieces of what happened and use the shared context to come to a final unambigious conclusion. The differing perspective offers the viewer an understanding of what perspective even means - a lack of context. Each persepctive could have been a film unto itself, however because the other perspecitves were included, we are able to undersatnd where each perspective lacked in understanding. The short-sigtedness of the male characters created conflict unto itself - creating holes for each one of them to dig out of and forcing the consequences unto themselves and unto an innocent Margurite. Each character was firmly understood in their intentions - however intention does not seem to signify virtue. The duel itslef pitted innocent against innocent when it came to intention. But through the shared perspective of all, the viewer is able to find the objectivety lost somewhere between. The viewer must witness all parties resolute in their beliefs and understanding, all believing themselves to be victims, but becuase of the objectivety collected by the viewer, we stand to realize that perspective is not truth. Both men were guilty of their shortcomings, but could not reconcile this in the end. Absolution cannot be granted by God or the viewer, but rather absolution is lost in the blood and mud of the duel, and eventually found in Margurites's new child - a blessing from tragedy and unrecoverable circumstances.