“The Last Duel”, written and performed by “Hollywood No. 1 CP” Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, failed at the box office for the first time in 24 years.
“The Last Duel” is hosted by “King of Hollywood Genre” Ridley Scott (“Alien”, “Blade Runner” and “Gladiator”).
Jodie Comer and Adam Driver starred in the film.
Both the front and the back of “The Last Duel” can be regarded as a cluster of superstars.
The film has its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and its rotten tomatoes are 85% fresh.
Domestic and overseas, “The Last Duel” has a good reputation.
Superstars gathered + good reputation, but the box office of “The Last Duel” failed.
“The Last Duel” has a global box office of 29 million U.S. dollars, which is worthless for a film that costs as much as 100 million U.S. dollars.
Was it behind the scene of “The Last Duel” rollover or an injustice in film history?
Related Post: “The Last Duel” Exposes Extended Clip, focusing on the tension before the duel.
Let’s talk about this year’s most controversial costume giant-“The Last Duel”
“The Last Duel” is adapted from the novel of the same name, a bloody crime caused by sexual assault.
The story is based on a real event in the 14th century-the last legal duel in French history.
Speaking of medieval France, there was a brave and honest knight (Matt Damon).
The knight rescued an ally on the battlefield, and the two fought side by side to form their best friends.
The friend is a humble squire (Adam Driver), and the two share their allegiance to the lord (Ben Affleck).
The knight’s unruly personality often dissatisfied the lord, but the squire who knows his own way is a close friend of the lord.
During an expedition, the knight met Marguerite (played by Jodie Comer), a young and beautiful, nobleman.
The knight fell in love with her at first sight, and quickly made a marriage contract.
Unexpectedly, after embracing the beauty, the knight suffered bad luck.
First, the wife’s dowry was invaded by the lord, and then the father’s territory was confiscated and given to the squire to inherit.
The knight must have been behind the scenes of the squire, who only hated his carelessness in making friends.
But even so, when he met the squire again, he still shook hands and made peace, and took the initiative to resolve the misunderstanding.
Despite the knight’s conscious being generous enough, bad luck still reluctantly treats him.
One day after returning home, his wife cried to him with three points of self-blame and seven points of shame: I was raped.
It was no one else who raped her, but the squire who had a close relationship with her at the banquet.
The lord favored squire, and the squire refused to admit his mistake.
The knight swears to seek justice for his wife. He simply quarrels in front of the king and applies for a duel: God will give justice in the evenly matched life and death contest.
For dignity and honor, the two men walked into the duel…
Related Post: What kind of story does Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel” tell?
At first, Matt Damon read the novel “The Last Duel”, and temporarily asked Ben Affleck to discuss the adaptation.
After reading the novel, the two hit it off and decided to collaborate again in “Good Will Hunting” 24 years later, co-writer and starring the movie.
The squire who fell in love with the knight in the movie should have been played by Ben Affleck.
But because Ben Affleck didn’t want to make the audience appear out of the show because of his relationship with Matt Damon, he volunteered to play the role of a lord who didn’t play much.
It’s also an oath of allegiance. The lord always greets others with a smile, like this
But facing the knight played by Matt Damon, he is always full of disdain, like this
Together with Nicole Holofcener (“BoJack Horseman screenplay”), the three collaborated to adapt the original work into a three-part “Rashōmon” story.
“Rashōmon” is a parallel narrative from multiple perspectives, which tells the story in fragments from different perspectives in chapters.
The three screenwriters deconstruct the cause and effect of the duel from the perspective of the knight, the squire, and the truth from his wife.
The subtle and complex human nature often beautifies and tailors the “truth” in the mouth of a character.
Through the cross-contrast of refraction of human nature, the audience can dig into the bleeding truth.
For example, the same story is completely another version for the squire.
The knight in the eyes of the squire is an arrogant, rude, self-serving and reckless man who is brave and insidious and often puts friendly troops in danger.
He himself is a suave, handsome and charming gifted man.
His outstanding knowledge and charisma make him very popular, and he deserves to be entrusted with important tasks.
In front of the lord, he is neither humble nor overbearing, and he is dedicated to defending the knight, and it is naturally reasonable to be promoted and wealthy.
On the contrary, it was the knight too mean, who spoke ruthlessly to him in front of the nobles, disregarding his friend’s face.
But even so, when he met the Cavaliers again, he shook hands and made peace, and took the initiative to resolve the misunderstanding.
Rape Marguerite? Nonsense!
Obviously it was Marguerite who had been secretly giving him a surprise, and everything that happened after that can only be said to be smooth sailing.
Although the squire was conscious enough to be generous, he was still slandered innocent by the two couples.
He swears his life to the king and God, and the accusations of rape are all falsehoods fabricated out of thin air.
Three perspectives describe the same event, seemingly redundant, but in fact there is no repetition.
The devil is hidden in the details, and the slight difference in a line or expression may be a subversive reversal of the truth.
The desire for power and lies are intertwined, and the one-sided truth becomes a carrier of humanity.
What is the truth?
Let the audience find the answer in the “Rashōmon” story.
Directing “The Last Duel”, I can only say that ginger is still hot, and Ridley Scott never disappoints.
He is still 84 years old and still able to make a film with a lot of tension.
The fine art details of “The Last Duel” range from bloody battlefields to embroidered robes… all are in pursuit of historical restoration.
In the gloomy Middle Ages, the Notre Dame Cathedral under construction reminds the audience of the distance between film and history.
The characters in the film are well-mooded, the live-action cold weapon wars are rough and cruel, and the editing is concise and powerful.
The film restores the medieval knights to the extreme. There are no tricks to show off, only the savage and fierce disregard.
The knife went up and down, the blood mist splashed, and there was no romance in the heavy armor fight, only a moment of horror.
At the end of “The Last Duel”, the suppressed dramatic tension is pushed to the limit, and the tension of the audience is pushed to a climax by a duel.
The knight and the squire hit the ground from horseback, their war spears hit the wooden shield, and sawdust splashed out.
The two men, whose physical strength and will were forced to a desperate situation, fought like a dog.
The epee hits the armor, making a metallic noise.
Bloody, savage, real and worrying.
In an era where screens are getting smaller and videos are getting shorter and shorter, a period epic about power and lies with top audiovisual experience can easily be classified as classical outdated.
The box office of “The Last Duel” failed. It can only be said that it was unexpected and reasonable.
But as the old man himself said: movies are not financial products, time determines the value of art.
Maybe “The Last Duel” will be like “Blade Runner”, and people will slowly realize its goodness.
Matt Damon invited Ridley Scott to another reason because he would shoot women, to be precise, independent women.
“The Last Duel” female consciousness focuses on the third act: the truth from Marguerite’s mouth.
The atmosphere in the third act suddenly changed, as depressing and dangerous as a thriller.
The film pierces the lies, stings the truth, and gives the right to speak to the hidden victims in history.
The prologue “truth” stagnated and emphasized, implying that this version is the closest to the director’s wishes.
In Marguerite’s memories, her encounter with the knight was not love at first sight.
The father and the knight bargained her as a commodity.
The knight married her to pass on the family, and he liked her to be strong and healthy, and “prolific.”
In Marguerite’s memory, neither the knight nor the squire took the initiative to shake hands and make peace.
She didn’t believe in the squire, but in order to maintain her husband’s relationship, she had to smirk to show her friendliness.
Marguerite was raped. She accused her husband of the atrocities of the squire, with a firm attitude and a firm tone.
The husband strangled her throat and asked: Did he force you? Did you not tease him? Can’t you run?
But the husband was furious and cursed: Can this person only do evil to me?
The husband is not concerned about Marguerite’s grievance, but his own honor and face.
In Marguerite’s memories, there was another trial that was not mentioned by them.
She stood in the courtroom when she was 6 months pregnant. No one believed what happened to her. Every problem suffocated her.
Didn’t you post it upside down?
Do you enjoy the rape process?
Are you dreaming?
The nobleman said: rape will not lead to pregnancy, this is a scientific fact.
The king agreed to a duel and left to God’s judgment.
But if the knight is defeated, it means that Marguerite has perjured and will be burned alive for 20 to 30 minutes.
Understand?
In this duel, there was the reputation of the squire on one side and the face of the husband on the other, but no one cared about the truth that the woman was seeking and the humiliation she suffered.
Even the truth of victory or defeat is left to “God” to decide.
How ironic? How sad?
But in order to get justice, Marguerite can only hope to bet on her own life and future in this absurd duel.
In the duel, the knight and the squire fought into a ball in the mud, and they lost their dignity, fighting for dignity.
The audience shouted like a carnival, enjoying this contest of dignity and honor.
The real victim, Marguerite, was left aside, watching coldly, and shedding tears.
In the postmodern framework, all the history of revolution has become a personal history, and the history of Zhengzheng is the ferry of human nature.
History rumblingly opens and closes on the time axis like a rolling shutter, ordinary people only deserve to hear a sound, and then wait for the dust to fall.
“The Last Duel” not only reproduces the local customs, but also emphasizes the historical rules of the game.
Let the audience face up to the absurdity submerged by history, the irritating absurdity, and the inevitable absurdity.
Men are bewitched by the hollow “chivalry”, loyal to tactics, honor, and vanity.
The king who initiated the duel is just a kid who can join in the fun.
The soldiers off the court took their lives for the illusory “face”, and it was just the king’s pastime after dinner.
Women serve shame, dedication, and sacrifice because of poor “ethical principles” and superstitions.
The knight’s mother blamed Marguerite for being troublesome. Why did she encourage her son to work for justice: “The truth is not important. I have also been raped, but have I resisted? No!”
They understand everything, but because they are honored to bear the humiliation, they consciously hide the truth behind the scenes.
“The Last Duel” is to remind the audience of the “truth” hidden by history behind the duel: The duel in the annals of history has nothing to do with dignity, power, wealth or honor. It is this place for everyone who is emptied and materialized. The loser of the “duel”.
A duel has nothing to do with victory or defeat, and all humanity loses.
“The Last Duel”, just wish it was the last duel.
Related Post: Ridley Scott: “The Last Duel” box office failure is blamed on the “post-2000s generation”.
