THE LAST DUEL (2021) ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Ridley Scott
Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer,
Harriet Walter, Ben Affleck, Martin Csokas
In 14th-century France, two knights (actually a knight and a squire) go at each other with lances and swords, axes and daggers, over a woman who claims she's been raped. The story plays out in three parts, each telling the "truth" about what happened from a different point of view. There are some similarities to "Gladiator" (another Ridley Scott film), but without the same emotional impact. Part of the problem is that the writers (Dam0n, Affleck and Nicole Holofcener) write themselves into a box. Once it's established that men are brutes and women are victims, there's really nowhere to go, and the only character worth caring about - the woman - is powerless. Still, it's Ridley Scott, who knows how to stage a battle (or a duel), the production design and Darius Wolski's cinematography capture a world that's eternally cold and gray, and Harry Gregson-Williams' music sounds a lot like Hans Zimmer. In a story that's modeled on "Rashomon", it's no accident that Damon's character is essentially a samurai, and Damon, as the impulsive, illiterate, rough-mannered knight, gives the movie's most compelling performance.
