THE LAST DUEL : Tuesday 26th October 2021.

I saw 'THE LAST DUEL' at my local independent movie theatre earlier this week, and this MA15+ Rated historical drama film is Directed by Ridley Scott; written for the screen by Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon, Co-Produced by Scott, Holofcener, Affleck and Damon and based on the 2004 book 'The Last Duel : A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France' by Eric Jager. Of course Ridley Scott is no stranger to historical dramas having helmed 'The Duellists' his 1977 debut feature film, '1492 : Conquest of Paradise' in 1992, 'Gladiator' in 2000, 'Kingdom of Heaven' in 2005, 'Robin Hood' in 2010 and 'Exodus : Gods and Kings' in 2014. This film was originally scheduled to begin a limited theatrical release at Christmas 2020, before going wide in early January this year, but as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the release date was delayed to mid-October 2021. It had its World Premiere screening at the Venice Film Festival in early September, before being released in the US and UK mid this month and here in Australia last week. It has garnered generally favourable Reviews, and has so far recouped US$19M off the back of a US$100M production budget. 

The film opens up with two heavily armoured knights on horseback racing towards each other with lances raised and shields poised to take the first blow, in an arena watched on by many of Paris' nobility, and the King of France, Charles VI. It is the 28th December 1386 and there is a thin blanket of snow covering the ground. The camera then cuts away, taking us back to 1370. The events leading up to the duel are divided into three chapters, reflecting the perspectives of Jean de Carrouges, Jacques Le Gris, and Marguerite de Carrouges, respectively.

Chapter One : The truth according to Jean de Carrouges

Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) is a soldier known to be fierce and unyielding in battle, is serving at Limoges in 1370 alongside the squire Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) - his long term friend. After seeing combat in Limoges against the wishes of the King, Le Gris thanks de Carrouges for saving his life. When Count Pierre d'Alencon (Ben Affleck) is named de Carrouges' overlord by his cousin, King Charles VI (Alex Lawther) both de Carrouges and Le Gris swear their fealty to him. Later Le Gris visits de Carrouges and informs him that d'Alencon has ordered all of his new vassals to pay their taxes to fund the war effort. de Carrouges explains he doesn't have the funds to pay and that he is broke. Le Gris agrees to ask d'Alencon, who has come to trust him as a confidant and advisor, for leniency in his case.

To restore his financial standing, de Carrouges marries Marguerite de Thibouville (Jodie Comer) and in the process receives a substantial dowry from her father Sir Robert de Thibouville (Nathaniel Parker) that includes valuable estates. He soon learns however, that one especially desirable parcel of land has already been seized by d'Alencon and given to Le Gris as a reward for Le Gris getting his finances in order. de Carrouges subsequently sues d'Alencon for the land to be given to him as it was promised to him in the dowry, but the King dismisses the lawsuit. The Count responds by appointing Le Gris to the captaincy of a fort that the de Carrouges' family had held for generations. Needless to say de Carrouges is mightily pissed off at this news and suspects Le Gris has turned d'Alencon against him.

Marguerite raises her concerns that they have no children, even after five years of marriage, but de Carrouges reassures her that whether they have children is in God's hands. While on a six month campaign in Scotland, he is knighted for bravery but returns home to be told by his wife that Le Gris raped her while she was alone in their home. Knowing that d'Alencon protects Le Gris, de Carrouges is adamant to challenge him to a duel to the death.

Chapter Two : The truth according to Jacque Le Gris

We go back to that battle at Limoges in 1370 and this time it is Le Gris who saves the life of de Carrouges in battle. In an early morning conversation with d'Alencon standing high up on his fort overlooking the French countryside, Le Gris recounts his humble early life and how he very briefly joined the church with designs on becoming a monk, but after a while decided it wasn't for him. Now however, he has earned the trust and respect of d'Alencon through his knowledge of Latin, reading and mathematics especially which has helped Le Gris to get the Counts finances in order and collecting, on his behalf, the debts owed to him by his vassels. Le Gris attempts to use his new position to help de Carrouges, but when d'Alencon showers him with gifts, as a show of gratitude, including the parcel of land promised to him as part of his wife's dowry, de Carrouges becomes envious and publicly mocks Le Gris.

When Le Gris sees Marguerite for the first time, he is instantly attracted to her and believes that she does not truly love her husband, who is illiterate and sees her only as a means for him to acquire a son and heir. Marguerite admits to her friends that Le Gris is indeed handsome but states that her husband does not trust him. While de Carrouges is away, his mother takes all the servants to help her with errands that day, leaving Marguerite alone, despite her husband advising that his wife is not be left home alone under any circumstances. Knowing this Le Gris gains entry to the household and declares his undying love for Marguerite. She insists that she is married and orders him to leave. Instead, Le Gris chases Marguerite up to her bedchamber. Le Gris then rapes her. In his mind, despite her protests and seemingly only mild objections he believes that Marguerite must love him. Before leaving, he advises her not to tell her husband, for upon hearing this news he would surely kill her, and he too will remain silent. 

Later d'Alencon tells Le Gris that de Carrouges is spreading news that he raped his wife. Le Gris, apparently shocked Marguerite perceived the incident as a rape, is advised by d'Alencon to deny, deny, deny the event. d'Alencon attempts to exert his authority to rule in favour of Le Gris, but de Carrouges has already appealed his case directly to the King and requested a duel to the death against Le Gris, who, determined to defend his honour, his name and his reputation, accepts de Carrouges' challenge.

Chapter Three : The truth according to Marguerite de Carrouges

Marguerite de Thibouville has entered into marriage with Jean de Carrouges and sets about helping him to restore his neglected estate to its former glory. Their marriage is soon strained by her failure to become pregnant, even after five years, and as de Carrouges leaves for Scotland, he reassures her that whether they have children is in God's hands. He also orders her not to leave their castle home and to not let anyone inside while he is away. 

de Carrouges' mother, Nicole de Buchard (Harriet Walter), takes all the servants with her on an errand for the day despite de Carrouges' order that Marguerite is not be left alone. Le Gris arrives with a servant who tricks Marguerite into letting them enter. Le Gris chases her up to her bedchamber and rapes her, with Marguerite screaming and crying for him to stop. When de Carrouges returns, Marguerite tells him what happened. He is enraged, and grabbing Marguerite by the neck demands to know if she provoked him. He then forces her to have sex with him immediately so that her last partner was not Le Gris. 

Marguerite, after praying in the chapel, is confronted by Nicole, who warns her against bringing Le Gris to trial, saying that she too was raped when she was younger and had to accept it as the way of the world so she could move on with her life, further stating that what Le Gris did to Marguerite is no different than French soldiers raping peasant women during wartime campaigns.

At Le Gris' trial in Paris, the judges interrogate Marguerite, who is now six months pregnant, six months after the rape. Is this coincidence given that she failed to conceive after more than five years of marriage they ask? She remains resolute in speaking the truth, even after being advised by the judges that should de Carrouges lose the duel she will be flayed and burned alive for bearing false witness against Le Gris, and that such a painful death can take between twenty to thirty minutes for the victim to die. The King in attendance, agrees to de Carrouges' request for a duel to the death. After the hearing Marguerite confronts de Carrouges for not informing her she would be killed if he fails, stating that their child could now grow up an orphan. When he defends himself by saying he is risking his life for her honour, she accuses him of prioritising his pride and his vanity over everything and eveyone else, including her life and that of their child's. Marguerite gives birth to their son, within just a few weeks of the duel. 

The 28th December comes around and the duel starts with de Carrouges and Le Gris jousting until both men lose their mounts and then fight hand-to-hand. de Carrouges is stabbed in the thigh but eventually manages to pin down Le Gris after he slashes him in the back of the leg with his sword. He demands that Le Gris confess or face ever lasting damnation, but Le Gris refuses and once again claims his innocence. de Carrouges stabs him through the mouth, killing him. No longer a prisoner, Marguerite is unchained and permitted to join her husband. As Le Gris' body is stripped naked and dragged away along the frozen ground by horses to be strung upside down for public display, de Carrouges and his wife depart the scene on horseback with de Carrouges soaking up the glory of his victory before the cheering crowds of Paris, while Marguerite follows quietly behind.

The final scene shows Marguerite and her no more than two year old son playing in the grounds of the family estate on a sun drenched day. An epilogue tells us that de Carrouges died fighting in the Crusades two or so years later while Marguerite continued managing the estate, living in peace for the remaining thirty years of her life and never marrying again.

This is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen and whilst the Reviews have generally been favourable, it would be disappointing for Scott and the studio that at the Box Office this historical drama has underperformed. Perhaps the reason for this, is that a story of this nature doesn't grab the hearts and minds of the younger cinema going demographic, but is instead aimed more squarely at an older 40+ demographic who are still a little ill at ease with venturing back into a movie theatre post-pandemic. Once again, here Scott has not neglected the production values which are top notch, the cinematography is first rate, the performances from the four seasoned leading players is credible, the action scenes expertly staged, and a clever script all help propel this medieval story along at a good pace. It could be seen as a forerunner to the 'Me Too' movement with themes of misogyny, patriarchy, rape and the issues faced by women in the 14th Century being not so far removed from the issues faced by women six hundred years later. My only gripe is that at a two-and-a-half-hour run time, Scott could easily have cut fifteen to twenty minutes out of this without too much detriment to the story, but nonetheless 'The Last Duel' is a well crafted historical film with a message grounded in todays world that will keep you invested right up until the brutal, bloody and bitter end. 

'The Last Duel' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE TRANSLATORS : Tuesday 22nd September 2020.

'THE TRANSLATORS' ('Les Traducteurs') is an M Rated French thriller that I saw at my local independent cinema earlier this week. Directed and Written by Regis Roinsard in only his second feature film making outing since 2012's 'Populaire', this film has garnered mixed or average Reviews so far since going on general release in its native France at the end of November last year.

Our film opens up with the camera homing in on various people who seems to be travelling from all over Europe to ultimately congregate somewhere in France, as three stretched limo's all pull up outside some huge lavish chateau in the French countryside, out of which alight a mixed bunch of nine different nationalities. At the same time, Eric Angstrom (Lambert Wilson), announces in a media conference that his publishing house has been granted the rights to publish the third book in a massively popular and best selling 'Dedalus' trilogy series. Following the international success of books one and two 'The Sting of Rebecca' and 'The Poisoned Kiss', this third title 'The Man Who Did Not Want To Die' by author Oscar Brach is keenly awaited and hotly anticipated the world over. The next step in the process is to have the heavily guarded manuscript translated in to multiple languages for a simultaneous worldwide release on the same day sometime in the first quarter of the following year. 

And so arriving at the chateau there are nine translators from England, Russia, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, China and Greece. They are met and welcomed to their new hideaway home for the next two months by Rose-Marie Houeix (Sara Giraudeau), Angstrom's Assistant, who shows them the swimming pool, the ten pin bowling alley, where they'll eat with food provided by a five star chef, drink wine from the extensive cellar, and how each of the ensuite rooms is bigger than her apartment. However, each of the translators is to surrender their mobile phones, any recording devices or other technology, internet access is blocked, and there are to be no comings or goings from the chateau for the duration of their stay. They are in complete lockdown, shut off from the outside world. Their focus for the first month is to translate all four hundred or so pages of the manuscript and for the second month to review and fine tune their translations. For eleven hours a day they will work on their translations, surrounded by a stacked library full of reference books, all the while closely monitored by armed guards. They'll be done and home by Christmas. 

And so the nine are made up of a Russian woman, Katerina Anisinova (Olga Kurylenko) claiming to be a Dedalus #1 fan and channeling the doomed heroine of the series Rebecca; the flamboyant Italian, Dario Farelli (Riccardo Scarmarcio); the depressed Dane who harbours a deep seated grudge against her family and who ever only wanted to write but is no good at it, Helene Tuxen (Sidse Babett Knudsen); the stuttering Spaniard, Javier Casal sporting a broken wrist with it in plaster (Edouardo Noriega); the punk Portuguese girl, Telma Alves (Maria Leite); the oldest of the group and a Marxist Greek, Konstantinos Kedrinos (Manolis Mavromatakis); the Chinese pragmatist, Chen Yao (Frederic Chau); the uptight German, Ingrid Korbel (Anna-Maria Sturm); and finally the youngest of the bunch and also claiming to be a #1 fan whose aim in life is to meet the author is the English lad Alex Goodman (Alex Lawther).

And so the gang of nine settle down to their translation task at hand, and initially everything appears to go swimmingly. Progress is made, the group bond over dinner, and end up collectively singing 'What the World Needs Now, is Love Sweet Love', they swim, use the exercise equipment, and ten pin bowl together, while drinking wine and champagne. Then the next day, Angstrom receives a e-mail on his mobile phone stating that some undisclosed person has the first twenty pages of the manuscript which will be leaked online unless he pays up the ransom money of €5M within 24 hours. Immediately, the finger of suspicion points at one of the nine - for who else has had access to the manuscript, but how did they get it out, and who has the technology at hand to send out an e-mail of demands. Angstrom is none too pleased to say the very least, and immediately tasks his security detail to raid each room of the nine translators and turn it upside-down to uncover any clues as to the identity of the culprit. Beds and pillows are upturned and torn apart, minibar fridges are emptied all over the floor, and personal belongings are ransacked. 

Needless to say, Angstrom calls the culprits bluff, and when the 24th hour clicks over, he has the team of nine stripped down to their underwear all lined up against a bookcase to see how one of the nine will send an e-mail while under such scrutiny. But under his watchful gaze, an e-mail is received saying that the next one hundred pages will now be released online and the ransom has now increased to €20M. He's furious of course and gradually the dynamic within the group begins to implode with fingers being pointed at likely suspects, nationalities are insulted, cultures questioned, the lights and heat are turned off and ultimately guns are raised and inevitably shots are fired. 

The reveal comes about mid-way through in a fast forward sequence set in a police interview room, where Angstrom is asking questions of the perpetrator in an attempt to understand his/her motives. The latter half then reveals who the perpetrator is, how he/she made it work in flashback, and introduces us to the author George Fontaine (Patrick Bauchau), who publishes under the pseudonym Oscar Brach, who owns a small book store in some small coastal town in northern France. Again in flashback, we see Angstrom collecting the manuscript from Fontaine and initially the meeting is very civil, until Fontaine reveals that he is also courting other publishers and that he never signed an exclusive deal with Angstrom's publishing house anyway. Needless to say it doesn't end well for Fontaine. 

We then go back to the chateau and phase two of the ransom deadline has now past, and Angstrom receives another e-mail saying that the next one hundred pages of the manuscript will be released online and the ransom has now increased to €80M. Out of desperation he orders his colleagues back at his publishing house to release the funds from his own account and to liquidate his stocks and shares to cover the ransom demand.

Fast forwarding to that same interview room with Angstrom wearing a hidden wire with the Police authorities intently listening in, the perpetrator comes clean as to his/her true identity, but very cleverly leans over to be right in Angstrom's face and places his hand on his chest so silencing the hidden microphone at that crucial moment. When he's done, he leans back in chair removing his hand just as Angstrom blurts out that he killed Fontaine, believing him to be the author, when all along it's the person sat opposite him. The Police burst in as Angstrom is straddling the perpetrator on the desk with his hands around their neck. Angstrom has got his comeuppance as a greedy manipulator of literary fortunes, and a murderer, and has lost all of his wealth in the process. And the real author walks free, job done as was his/her plan all along. 

'The Translators' feels like something straight out of an Agatha Christie novel, except the usual super sleuth detective is here replaced by a somewhat nefarious publishing tycoon, and if you liked Rian Johnson's 'Knives Out' from last year, your sure to be suitably impressed by this whodunnit. The script is strong enough to keep you guessing right up until the ending with plenty of red herrings, twists, turns and jumps forwards and backwards in time to maintain the interest and make the 105 minute running time never leaving you wanting. For its reported fairly meagre US$10M budget, the production values are solid. The international cast give strong and convincing performances, albeit that some their back stories are barely touched upon which given the twelve principle characters here is hardly surprising really, but its a tough ask to become invested in a character when you know so little about them. This is a tense thrilling ride that goes off course just a little in the second act but reclaims that lost ground in the final act when the big reveal, the motives, and the back story all come together. 

'The Translators' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-