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One of the most publicized film delays of 2020 was The last duel, the historic epic of Ridley Scott with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Jodie Comer. It was the production that led Damon and his family to be locked up in Ireland in the spring. A trailer is now here for The last duel, and it looks like Fridging: The Movie, in which Jodie Comer’s character Marguerite de Thibouville suffers just so her doink husband can argue with his rapist ex-friend. BUT. Since the announcement of this film, I have read Eric Jager’s book in 2004, also called The last duel. And then I contacted a former professor, a medievalist, to get a copy of Jean Froissart’s contemporary 14th century account of the trial and duel recounted by Jager, and now portrayed on film by Scott. And I think there is a small chance The last duel will not be garbage. There is certainly a window here to connect these events to how we view sexual assault in society today, and a chance to make a damning critique of toxic masculinity and a society that simply refuses. to believe women.
The trailer gives me hope that we’re going to see this smart, flawless read of the story because Comer is front and center as Marguerite. The last duel is really her story, illustrating the fallout after being assaulted by Jacques Le Gris (played by Adam Driver), a rival of her husband, Jean de Carrouges (played by Damon in the film). Carrouges’ historical accounts describe him as a good soldier but a capricious man who was both bad in business and unlucky, who saw his land and income dwindle under feudalism after falling out with his overlord, Count Pierre. d’Alençon (Ben Affleck, resurrecting his truly missing English accent and a hideous blonde wig). As Carrouges’ fortune fell, Le Gris’s increased and Le Gris was a particular favorite of Count Pierre, a relationship that favored Le Gris when Marguerite accused him of sexually assaulting her at her home. Count Pierre sided with Le Gris and Carrouges went to see King Charles VI to seek redress, but the evidence for the case was “weak” as all they had was Marguerite’s word. ‘she had been assaulted by Le Gris.
As the men could not conceive of believing a woman in 1386, Carrouges requested a trial by combat rather than go through another legal process against Le Gris. the Parliament from Paris okay, because there wasn’t – again, just because no one saw Marguerite as a suitable witness – enough evidence to judge the case fairly. This is how a judicial duel is declared, the last that France has ever authorized, the idea being that “God will side with the righteous” and that whoever speaks the truth will therefore win. If Carrouges lost, not only would he be killed, but Marguerite would also be burned alive, for a loss would mean that she “perjured” herself. It sounds silly and superstitious, AND IT IS, but that was in 1386. Religion was intimately linked to daily life, and people sincerely believed that God would reveal the truth by favoring the honest and thereby sending the guilty to the grave. dead.
This is what makes Marguerite’s story so powerful. It is a sample of religious, courteous and private life at a time when these spheres were practically inseparable; it was a real “media” sensation, drawing thousands of people to the duel itself; and leaving aside all the historicity of such a meticulously documented medieval event – the actual transcripts of the trial still survive! Even in the era of ‘believe the women’, there are a lot of people who just don’t, and men like Bill Cosby can be released from prison after legal negotiations that many will take as a sign of innocence. . And even today, the accounts of the duel and the story of Marguerite note that “we will never really know what happened” because it is Marguerite’s word against Jacque Le Gris, forever.
Even though Marguerite herself said at trial that bringing such an accusation was hardly a beneficial way to promote her family’s interests and that she insisted on violating it at the risk of HER OWN LIFE, people ALWAYS say to themselves: “I guess we don’t know!” So The last duel can unravel this tangle of toxic masculinity, misogyny, and how society continues to let down survivors of sexual assault, it could be something special. It might just be a big sword fight movie that reunites Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as co-stars but co-writers (notably, the script is also attributed to Nicole Holofcener). But maybe we’ll be lucky, and The last duel will truly be Jodie Comer’s film, just as the story is truly Marguerite’s. It’s a fascinating story for many reasons. Even get a few of them, and that’ll be good.
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