This was very average at best. The story might be interesting but the execution was poor. They show the same story from different vantage points but one of the problems is that instead of being interesting, sometimes they repeat the exact same thing several times with no new information which gets tiring real fast.
It's like a 20 minutes story that we get to watch it 4 times from the view point of different people. Some might think it's an interesting movie or story, but for me it was boring and could be a short movie. However, I enjoyed the Chapter 1 of the movie and gets boring more after finishing each Chapter.
Not sure if it's the worst of Ridley Scott.
We're far from Gladiator for sure. Not surprised it did poorly on box office.
2h30m of movie that could have been done in 1hr. Really disappointing
So I was expecting like some pre cursor story to Joan D'Arc, so I was pleasantly surprised it wasn't. The presentation was excellent although it's been done a handful of times before this movie really presents the separate views of the story well. It immerses you into deciding who and what was the truth in a true story from 1300s France. it hits the historical notes and the script and acting are very good.
I'm not surprised to see some men giving it a lower score. We still have men (and women) who will blame the rape victim and insist women suffer in silence because of the same "shame" used 700 years ago--the "she wanted it" BS that still plagues our society today.
The best part of this story is it's true. This woman was vindicated. Too many even now never get justice.
BRAVO Ridley Scott and the entire cast for bringing this story to the masses and helping to bear light on a problem that is unfortunately still relevant.
What a boring, crap movie. No need to waste your time unless you want to hear the same boring story told 3 times in a row. Then it does end with a little excitement with the actual duel for about 5 minutes at the end. Not worth it though.
The narrative style is not the only common thing between this and Rashomon. Rashomon also dealt with sexual violence told through 3 different perspectives . And it also had a duel which makes me wonder if Kurosawa was influenced by the actual incident.
Nowdays we know NO means no, only YES means yes. In the old days women been treat as properly, it's hard to live alone without marriage (man), old society won't allow it even punish it. Imo the movie tell the story in a way make audience think of it, and that's good.
PS, why king looks so familiar?... Ahh! our boy from The End of the F***ing World, one of the way how modern love works, sweet
100% believable representation of the hubris of men.
Excellent movie. If you're one of the people saying it's boring because they show the same thing from three perspectives, you missed the whole point of the movie. Every perspective has a slightly different interpretation of what happened. The changes are very subtle, but are crucial to the overall story.
This is a superb film... the story, the way it was told, the attention to detail, the acting and the action was all top notch. I really didn't think Ridley could do another historical drama differently to make it interesting but he's pulled another rabbit out of his magic hat and proved once again he works so hard and loves his job... 8.5/10
An intense story with some amazing actors but the way the movie went, took too long for my liking and genuinely got too repetitive, amazing actors but just a little too slow for my liking, some people will enjoy this movie, honestly not for me.
The movie is very well made. Everything from the sets to the costumes and the acting is, in typical Ridley Scott matter, flawless.
However the way the story is told is not to my liking. You have about 45-50 mins of content but, due to the multiple perspective way of storytelling, you have to watch it three times. It's a "he said, she said" that in the end isn't proven one way or the other because, let's face it, "God has spoken" and "an honest man can't die" is as stupid as "you can't get pregnant from a rape because if you don't enjoy intercourse you can't get pregnant. That's sience"
And there lies the biggest issue I have - the movie criticizes a whole society for there misogynistic ways but like with the above that was how it was. Women were property just like men could be. Or what do you thing all the folk working for those nobles were ? From our moral point of view this was wrong but pointing a finger back 700 years in time is easy to do.
Well, it's not a political forum here and I think I will attract comments with what I said no matter what.
The actual duel at the end was great, very well filmed, with the instense and brutality you imagine had to be there in a fight for ones honor to the death. But after sitting through more than two hours it wasn't enough to save the movie in my eyes.
I have no idea what the point of this movie is. I’m sure there’s some woke muh-toxicmasculinity message in there…. And I’m gonna let you finish… But… Matt Damon’s mullet is the real MVP here.
Brutal and intense but interesting and powerful
I think the idea is that her perspective is supposed to confirm the true nature of the event, which off course is what it is. Imagine the opposite, the story of a woman who lied about the rape. Just unimaginable today.
Still, even though I had little doubt about it, I still wanted to see her perspective to confirm. And confirmation I got. The need to see and finish her story makes me think the anticipation is what the movie was aiming for.
Apart from that maybe the movie tries to show how complicated these things can be sometimes. Small differences in perception could add up to a different story.
This movie doesn't have a story, it has an incident that runs for 2 hours and 30 mins
the way of showing the perspective of each one of the 3 characters felt repetitive and boring after a while
fight scenes were very bad and poorly choreographed.. close ups and unnecessary camera shakes
The third chapter and the duel itself were phenomenal.
Telling the same story from different perspectives is an interesting and effective way of exploring the various truths and fictions in each version of events, however unlike Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's classic In a Grove (and its 1950 adaptation Rashomon), which casts doubts in the reader's mind as to which character's stories, if any, are reliable, The Last Duel tells us in the title card of the third and final chapter that Lady Marguerite's account is the truth.
On the one hand, this is an understandable decision from the filmmakers, as not doing so would have allowed doubt to be cast on the truthfulness of her accusation, which would have likely caused mass criticism and outrage among some regardless of the actual quality of the storytelling (and to be fair, even In a Grove did not cast doubt on the rape aspect of its story despite being published almost 90 years prior to the Me Too movement).
On the other hand, however, this decision does beg the question of why structure the story this way in the first place, since arguably the whole point of showing differing perspectives is to give the audience a thought-provoking mystery as to who to believe (not that it would be much of a mystery even without the title card, as the brilliant acting of Comer and Driver made it pretty clear where the truth lay).
So while it would have been nice to see some faith from the filmmakers in their own storytelling and actors (and the intelligence of their audience), the awkwardness of this decision doesn't detract too much from the film for me to not recommend it.
Another very good movie by Ridley Scott
I didn’t need to see the movie from three different perspectives it’s just a way to drag out the movie. It was good to see the hairstylist from Joe Dirt finally get back to work. I see Dr. Facui was the technical advisor for all things medical keeping things 100% accurate. Great fight scene with Matt and Adam otherwise waste of time.
Really enjoyed the format of this one, the differing stories told from alternate points of view, all culminating in the titular Duel was a great narrative structure that kept me hooked from start to finish. Some will be put off by the clear message being put down here which is a shame. I've seen one or two comments already calling this "woke" because of the subject matter it tackles which is absurd. You can't highlight the oppression women experienced in the 1300's, or the faults in unchecked masculinity without being called "woke" these days? I digress. As a thought piece on the inherent problems of masculinity and the silencing of women, The Last Duel achieves in telling without pushing to preachy which is a very nuanced and difficult to pull off. Really great movie, just a shame it got snubbed by terrible marketing and horrific release timing. I hope Driver and Comer get some recognition at the upcoming awards season. They both did stellar jobs (as always).
Another great film by Ridley Scott. I really liked how the story was told from three different perspectives. Also superb acting by the cast. Jodie Comer‘s performance was especially captivating.
This movie is like me: it's not because it's old that it's interesting.
While Ben Affleck and (especially) Matt Damon are fortunately totally believable as French squires and knights in the Dark Ages, the based-on-a-true-story (and aren't we all?) is not the Me Too moment or thinks it is. The Last Duel is little more than a lavish reminder that women don't get happy endings.
men:tm:: the movie
aka nothing changed
Excellent performances throughout this historical true story. Despite being set in the past, of course, its themes are all too relevant.
Slow start and nearly gave up, then got the different perspectives and really came together. Incredible how women were considered then, awful
I truly do not know what to say in review of this movie. As much as I think Matt Damon is an under appreciated actor, to think of him in a British project, as a 14th century French knight, felt like a bridge too far, so, I put off seeing this film. What finally lured me back to it was the rumours of acting awards for Jodie Comer. Even after seeing it, I’m ambivalent. Chapter 3 definitely showed Jodie Comers talent. I was definitely triggered by the lack of agency of a raped woman in that historical period (or any period of time, really) and that certainly raised the stakes and set the tension for “the last duel”. But, was it a good movie? Jodie’s performance was an 8 (great) but the first two chapters didn’t really engage me. I’m giving this film a 6 (fair) out of 10. [Historically Inspired Drama]
"The truth does not matter."
I was not expecting the fight scenes to be so good but Ridley Scott knows how to visually captivate an audience. The way they went about telling the story caught me off guard and it was very interesting to see different points of view. Everyone was great but Jodie Comer is the standout here. I will always be greatful for being alive now and not then.
Over 2 hours to watch what could have been shown in 30 minutes, disappointing and boring
Ridley Scott directs the Martian and Kylo Ren banging each other in the armor with pointy sticks while the female protagonists tries to say something about misoginy and toxic masculinity. Ben Affleck clearly didn't get the memo.
It was a drama, where you get to see three perspective. It was not slow this is how drama should be. If you think it was slow and long, you have short span of attention. It is perfect the way it lefts you to figure it out, who was wrong and who told the truth bethought any interference. I loved this. Fantastic drama with strong fight scenes.
a beautiful epic historical drama from Ridley Scott.
I love being pleasantly surprised by things so when I when I went into this expecting nothing but a slow build medieval drama I was happy to find it was more than that and had a heartbreaking true story that was rooted in feminism. Some scenes are definitely not for the faint of heart. However, although I will admit to being pleasantly surprised the fact that this movie was split into three chapters, which were practically the same story told from different perspectives wasn't all that appealing to me.
The Last Duel
A wonderful film, with a very simple script, but beautifully directed. An incredible historical reconstruction. The 4 main actors were great, especially when you had to redo the same scene, but from a different point of view. And speaking of that, it's not at all redundant to see the same scenes 3 times, like the rape scene. Each reality has that little detail that Ridley Scott wants us to notice, the expressions, the dialogues, etc.
The final duel (not a spoiler, it appears in the first scene of the film), is breathtaking, incredible, exciting. I had anxiety in spades throughout the entire scene.
One flaw I found is Scott's forcing us to believe that Marguerite's is the truth, I would have preferred to leave it up to the viewer to decide which of the 3 versions to believe.
8/10
Very good. Difficult scenes to watch, but masterfully portrayed. Excellent performances abound. 8.2.
What was with ALL the repeated scenes, they did nothing for the story-line other than to add an extra hours viewing time and also added confusion to it as well, totally pointless!
Just watch the last 20 minutes.
Great story and attention to detail, but should have left much of the bloated run time on the cutting room floor. Twice I thought it had been restarted after seeing the same thing over and over again...
The Last Duel is fantastic. I loved how Scott decided to craft all three sides to the story. It really allowed the viewer to gather pieces and clues in each retelling to come up with there own conclusion. The action in this movie is visceral, so many gruesome and gory shots. It had me exhaling during multiple fight sequences. Performances across the board were excellent. Jodie Comer, Matt Damon and Adam Driver were so freakin good, every scene was expertly done. Overall, really strong watch, one of the better medieval films I have seen in a very long time.
Score: 95%
Verdict: Excellent
I started off really liking this movie, it started off much better then I expected. During the second repeat of the story, it started getting old. It really got old during the third repeat of the story.
Yes, I'm aware of the subtle and not so subtle differences in each retelling of the story but I'm sure we could have made the differences apparent without three repeats of the story and two and a half hours of my time.
By the time we got to the end, I didn't really care who won the duel.
It did have Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and introduced me to Jodie Comer and Nathaniel Parker and a couple of others. The acting, for the most part, was pretty good, the scenery was great, and the fight scenes were believable.
I gave it a 6 due to my like of the actors, the scenery, and the fight scenes.
The movie was great and dealt with a difficult subject without ever being "woke", which I strongly dislike; when directors clumsily try to push a narrative where it doesn't belong, it fully takes me out of the story. Rest assured, this is not that.
The movie stuck closely to historical events but the audience is privy to the 3 different perspectives that entirely change the story for each character. Not only do "facts" change, but it's interesting to see how each character views themselves, as well as the other 2 characters jn a different light. I see a lot of comments complaining of too much repetition, but I feel they must have gone into this expecting an action movie, and overlooked all forms of subtle differences.
If "Spot the Difference" puzzles in the backs of magazines are difficult and frustrating for you, I recommend you go watch a different movie.
An intruigung period-drama, with fantastic directing, stellar performances, great action sequences and an engaging plot, that unfolds in the perfect manner.
It was Wasted Copy of THE RASHAMON...
Set in the 1300's, I appreciated the look of this film. The scale of the shots, the costumes, the grey, drab color palette seemed accurate for the time. What wasn't was the dialect and Ben Affleck. The thing that struck me was the way that all of these squires, knights, whatever, fought for an immature, disinterested king. The way the king was portrayed was funny in an almost too over-the-top way (like Ben Affleck's performance).
Jodie Comer plays Marguerite, a victim of two ruthless men, Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Le Gris (Adam Driver). She's treated in horrific fashion by both men and the actual plight of many women during those times was probably as bad or worse. It was revealing when Carrouges's mother tells Marguerite that she too suffered through a rape but decided to keep silent, which she clearly regrets after seeing Marguerite's brave stance.
One of the real downsides of "The Last Duel" is the way it chooses to tell the story from the viewpoint of each of the three characters mentioned earlier. Each story retells the previous one, even displaying a title screen that tells the viewer who's version of the story is to be told in the forthcoming act. This was a bit too much spoon-feeding for my liking, especially when the title screen indicating Marguerite's version fades out and displays "The Truth". It made the versions told by Carrouges and Le Gris mostly pointless, other than to make you hate their characters perhaps more than if the story had just been told once. We could have easily seen their ruthlessness and cruelty to Marguerite without rehashing the events three different ways. It just seemed like it wanted to point your nose at the correct interpretation. Why bother? It does knock this movie down a couple of notches for that approach.
Last sentence is a spoiler!
The casting in this movie was so weird. I appreciated what the story was trying to do, but the movie was so dull I almost turned it off in the first third before finding out it switches perspectives and deciding to stay for Jodie Comer's turn in the final third.
I love a critique of rape culture and the cishet patriarchy, so kudos for that, but a lot of the dialogue felt as heavy-handed and out of place as most of the actors did, the pacing was too slow and the style of three tellings could've been done more cleverly. I'm torn about the overall delivery - on one hand, I felt it hamfisted; on the other hand, things have to be pretty fucking obvious and in your face nowadays or people will distort or misinterpret the message.
I guess my final thought is that if the movie was really about her story, I wish they could've found a way to center her more in the story. I get why they did it the way the way they did but I think it could've been done better. Still, not mad that it exists.
Extremely happy the lady got to live out the rest of her life without having to deal with any dude's BS again. If she got burned alive over men's nonsense, I was going to fucken riot.
The Last Duel has a Rashomon feel to it where you pretty much have to pick which side is true. Since yes they do come off differently. Sir Jean de Carrouges’ (Matt Damon) wife Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) says she was raped by Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver).
We see Jacques Le Gris version before her’s where she almost comes off more playful with him. He also confesses to a priest that he committed adultery. Since in his mind all women want him so why would it be even close to being rape.
When we see the Marguerite de Carrouges’ version it is sadder and definitely comes across as rape. Where no one is even on her side. With Sir Jean de Carrouges caring more about his honor than anything. As well as her mother in-law saying she shouldn’t have spoken up.
Jacques Le Gris’ side is closer to his ego where it comes off more playful and that she must want him. That all women want him. Sir Jean de Carrouges‘ triggered that Le Gris must have Marguerite. By having Marguerite kiss Le Gris to welcome him there.
The Last Duel is more more people who like a Rashomon like movie than a Gladiator like movie. Despite there being some brutal well shot fights.
Amazing performances all around, perfectly portrayed. Chops to the great Ridley Scott who's proven himself yet again, this was so much better than Raised By Wolves, my god that show was boring, but yeah focusing here, magnificent!
Simple plot, but taken in nice drama. And you feel used to it, when you remember its the GLADIATOR director.
After having sex with his wife, you can clearly see the outline of Matt Damon’s underwear under his nightshirt
Pretty sure they didn’t have briefs back then :)
Well…another new Ridley Scott’s movie with pretty fine even great cinematography and lack of interesting story..even boring.
A story about two men and a woman written by two men and a woman in which the feminine gaze prevails, the "truth" is assumed from the beginning, so the other "versions" seem somewhat unnecessary. But there is a perfection in the representation of a medieval society so masculinized that it's difficult to argue, and it has an extraordinary contribution in the very intelligent soundtrack by Harry Gregson-Williams.
When 1300s Matt Damon is beating a horse away from trying to mount a mare, screaming “NOT THIS STALLION”, that my friends is SUBTEXT
I never thought I would say this, but I have never see. A movie with such powerful acting from all the cast. When one of that cast is Ben Affleck…then wow!!
i only liked the final fight... the rest i felt coming go and back go and back in a timelime not always clear
It's a simple story, and I believe Ridley Scott tried to think outside the box with this storytelling, but the end result isn't all that great. Nonetheless, 70 years ago, Korosawa won an Oscar for a film that made the same story type.
It's a little redundant to have to watch the story three times, and each review adds something new, but I think there should be a little more mystery about how things happen. I'd prefer that the truth of the story be kept hidden and open to interpretation.
The great actors involved in the story do an excellent job. The last duel's choreography is breathtaking.
The weapons, armour, and costumes, as well as the locations, are fantastic.
Wow. This... Whoa. Amazing movie. Truly stunning. I will never, ever watch it again because it hurts my soul.... but it's worth the watch. Also, I don't know if I should thank the 4K TV, HBO Max, or Ridley Scott, but thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for not making this period piece in the dark. I get so sick of adjusting my TV just so I can watch a movie. I didn't have to with this one! Whoo!!
Rape is not entertainment. Disgusting film.
Serious "Right You Are (If You Think You Are)" vibes on this one (see playwright Luigi Pirandello)! Great movie that leaves you with a lot to think about... Likely acorns of truth in each of the 3 perspectives - Ridley Scott does a masterful job in using these perspectives in complementary ways while chipping away at the "truth". A memorable ride, even if the story was completely predictable after watching the first act/perspective.
8/10
Great movie, amazing story and great acting.
Loved the way they showed the different perspectives of the story. Not a movie that you will rewatch, but definitely a must watch.
This movie had an interesting way of telling its story essentially by starting with the simplest way to tell it and then complicating it as it goes on. It showed just how cruelly women used to be treated, and the story structure did a good job of that by providing the men's perspectives before the women's.
The film works.
On a macro level, a film like The Last Duel is cool. The gender relationship with the court is quite interesting and intelligent. As for the last adjective, it is important to pay close attention to the literal meaning of the word as it means connecting knowledge. Thus, yes, there is social, religious and psychological discourse that makes the film dense and even boring. I feel like director Ridley Scott wants to reinvent himself as an epic director which is crazy why would the director of Alien want that? Regardless of this, there is nothing added to Direct's filmography and I don't even think that this film is part of the wave of feminist films from years ago.
Now removing the context, the film doesn't bring anything new and the discussion is a little dated. I believe that historical films need to be rethought in the way their visual narrative is crafted. And Ridley Scott became a cast over time. So, on a micro level it's very bad.
I thought this would be boring due to the lackluster trailers, but I was surprised by how good this is.
I liked how the movie used different perspectives from characters, which tells us how often we misread other people's body language and make false assumptions or how we think we portray ourselves towards other people.
Director Ridley Scott can be hit and miss sometimes, but when he makes a solid film, you remember how great he can be as a director.
It's a dark movie with a heavy subject matter, so not for everyone.
This is a very loooooong and tedious movie that doesn't actually go anywhere. Suffered 1 1/2 hours and then discovered there was another hour to go!!! Switched off. The entire story could have been wrapped up in an hour.
I watched because of the big names involved but unfortunately as always is the case, too many big stars turns into a shit movie. When will I learn to skip these?
2/10 only because Jodie Comer is in it.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed The Last Duel. We're all the main characters of our story, and seeing the subtle differences of how each portrayed their truths in the different scenes was fascinating. The world felt real and the portrayals by the actors were all quite good. I think in my mind, I associated this with Raised by Wolves, a show I didn't particularly like, with the Ridley Scott and horrible haircut connections. They could not be more different!
I agree with the most of comments here. It was a good drama, the photography and ambience are amazing. The actors are very good, obviously. The fact that you can see from three different perspectives help you to kame your on mind you and see the big picture.,That's what you kind of do when you watch the movie.
The movie was longer than it should've been. There was no need to show the rape scene in three points of view, when neither was graphic or realistic to begin with.
In the thirteenth century could there be so much fuss and formalism about a rape. And a simple squire could morally equal a knight? Wouldn't they execute it directly?
great，3 different perspective is really interesting and it really shows the actors’ talents
Enjoyable period drama with beautiful locations, elegant direction, solid performances, and a satisfying duel worth the title. The plot, unfortunately, felt a little too exposition-heavy and lacked any kind of ambiguity despite the various point of view provided. The same story gets told three times by three different narrators, but the differences were mostly subtle.
For me there was no need for the 3 standpoints. It could’ve easily been condensed down to 2 (Marguerite and Jacques) as we saw some POV’s 3 times which made the runtime unnecessarily long. It could’ve been made so much shorter which in my opinion would’ve made for a more enjoyable and compelling story if it weren’t for the amount of times we had to see the same thing. As always Jodie Comer always delivers and never fails in giving a great performance
of the best of Ridley Scott in recent years, either because of how he tells it, the 3 versions, or because of the actors
Ben Affleck always has to make it about him, doesn't he?
Shout by KeldianBlockedParent2021-12-08T02:34:59Z— updated 2021-12-10T10:27:37Z
Matt Damon is such a terrible choice for this role, I genuinely laughed several times.
While I think the subject matter is rather dull, this movie could have been done a lot better.