History Film / TheLastDuel

In [[TheLateMiddleAges late 14th-century]] [[UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues Normandy]], UsefulNotes/{{France}}, during UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar, noblewoman Marguerite de Carrouges, née de Thibouville, is raped by a man who was once her husband's friend, Jacques Le Gris, who denies that this was a rape. Jacques is protected by both the Count Pierre d'Alençon and the Church, and so Marguerite's husband, the knight Jean de Carrouges, challenges Jacques to a trial by combat, to let God decide who told the truth. The lead-up to the titular duel is told in three segments, individually written by Creator/NicoleHolofcener (''Film/CanYouEverForgiveMe'') and Damon and Affleck themselves, from the perspectives of each of the three parties. However, [[RashomonStyle the accounts don't always line up]].

The film stars Creator/JodieComer as Marguerite de Carrouges (née de Thibouville), Creator/MattDamon as Jean de Carrouges, Creator/AdamDriver as Jacques Le Gris, Creator/BenAffleck as Count Pierre d'Alençon, Creator/NathanielParker as Sir Robert de Thibouville, Creator/AlexLawther as [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi King Charles VI]] and Creator/MichaelMcElhatton as Bernard Latour.

* RashomonStyle: The movie is divided into three sections, each told from a different point of view. It also takes the extra step of each viewpoint being written by a different person: Matt Damon for his character Carrouges, Ben Affleck for Le Gris (who he was originally intended to play), and Nicole Holofcener bringing a female perspective to Marguerite. Uniquely, very few scenes and dialogue overlap, with a focus more on what part of an event mattered most to the individual perspective. Unlike the TropeNamer, the differences between the different accounts are exceptionally minor with it being more about body language, camera angles, and the ExactWords that were used. [[spoiler: Everyone is legitimately trying to tell the truth... but not all perspectives are created equal]]. The film strongly implies that Marguerite's version is the correct one; Jean's and Jacques's segments are titled "The Truth According to..." while Marguerite's is simply titled "The Truth".

** Despite Nicole's behaviour towards Marguerite, she is disgusted at how Jean comments on her looks when he comes back from a raid and is horrified at her fate if Jean loses the duel.

In [[TheLateMiddleAges late 14th-century]] [[UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues Normandy]], UsefulNotes/{{France}}, during UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar, noblewoman Marguerite de Carrouges, née de Thibouville, is raped by a man who was once her husband's friend, Jacques Le Gris, who denies that this was a rape. Jacques is protected by both the Count Pierre d'Alençon and the Church, and so Marguerite's husband, the knight Jean de Carrouges, challenges Jacques to a trial by combat, to let God decide who told the truth. The lead-up to the titular duel is told in three segments, individually written by Nicole Holofcener (''Film/CanYouEverForgiveMe'') and Damon and Affleck themselves, from the perspectives of each of the three parties. However, [[RashomonStyle the accounts don't always line up]].

In [[TheLateMiddleAges late 14th-century]] Normandy, France, during UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar, noblewoman Marguerite de Carrouges, née de Thibouville, is raped by a man who was once her husband's friend, Jacques Le Gris, who denies that this was a rape. Jacques is protected by both the Count Pierre d'Alençon and the Church, and so Marguerite's husband, the knight Jean de Carrouges, challenges Jacques to a trial by combat, to let God decide who told the truth. The lead-up to the titular duel is told in three segments, individually written by Nicole Holofcener (''Film/CanYouEverForgiveMe'') and Damon and Affleck themselves, from the perspectives of each of the three parties. However, [[RashomonStyle the accounts don't always line up]].

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Jacques' death is by no means portrayed as triumphant but rather the tragic end of a man of humble origins whose ToxicFriendInfluence and a lifetime of rejections led him to becoming an unrepentant rapist.]]

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler:Nicole]] reveals that she too was raped years ago, but kept quiet about it as she knew how people would treat her and react if she came forward about her assault. Marguerite asks, "At what cost?" While she does answer that it saved her live, her mannerisms and tone imply she's not so sure if it did.

* FreudianExcuse: Jacques' humble origins and squire status have earned him discrimination from the masses. It's the Count who befriends him despite all that [[ToxicFriendInfluence but only serves to corrupt him]] on sexual politics.

** Jean de Carrouges is not exactly a model husband, but he does tell Marguerite that he sincerely appreciates her advice on resolving his feud with Le Gris, and assures her that she did the right thing by publicly admitting she was raped, in contrast to other characters who shame her for speaking up and want nothing more to do with her. He also offered to make his home more like Marguerite's and in little things show he does care about her to a certain degree.
** Despite Nicole's treatment toward Marguerite, she is disgusted at how Jean comments on her looks when he comes back from a raid and is horrified at her fate if Jean loses the duel.

** Jacques goes through this in the rare male example of this trope. Because of his Casanova reputation, women don't think he's "the marrying kind", despite his genuine attempts at seeking a more healthy relationship. It's honestly no wonder why his views on sexual politics become so eschewed.

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Jacques' death is by no means portrayed as triumphant but rather the tragic end of a man of humble origins whose ToxicFriendInfluence and rejection led him to becoming an unrepentant rapist.]]

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler:Nicole]] reveals that she too was raped years ago, but kept quiet about it as she knew how people would treat her and react if she came forward about her assault. Marguerite asks, "At what cost?" She has no answer.

* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer depicts Nicole's "power of men" line as part of a conversation with Marguerite, and a (cynical) condemning of the patriarchy. In truth, the line appears when Nicole is discussing the case with Jean. While she does express similar sentiments to Marguerite later in the film, her lines have an undercurrent of QuitYourWhining.

* PerspectiveFlip: Several scenes play out in more than one character's perspective, and each one is played slightly different, colored by that person's perspective. The film implies, however, that Marguerite's version is the truth.

* QuitYourWhining: [[spoiler:Nicole]] is annoyed that Marguerite is making a case of her rape, and feels she should simply deal with it quietly. [[spoiler:Nicole]]'s rationalization for her attitude is that [[spoiler:Nicole herself was raped in the past, but because she chose to keep silent about it, she is still alive. Though Nicole has no answer when Marguerite asks her about the "cost" of keeping quiet about her rape for all these years]]. When Marguerite later gives birth to her son, she also hints at this type of attitude, saying how she should have stayed silent to ensure a long life with her son as opposed to risking the chance of leaving him orphaned and without her.

* ArmorIsUseless: Averted. Jean is at the front of ranks of soldiers when they're ambushed by archers, and arrows bounce harmlessly off his armor as he stands in full view of the enemy. In the duel, both Jean and Jacques repeatedly take blows that are deflected by their armor.

** Each man remembers saving the other during a battle (which, for added irony [[AmbiguousSituation might even be true]]). Likewise, when they try to make peace years later, each remembers saying "let there be peace among the King's allies." In Marguerite's version, it's a different lord who says that.

** Each man remembers saving the other during a battle. Likewise, when they try to make peace years later, each remembers saying "let there be peace among the King's allies." In Marguerite's version, it's a different lord who says that.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Putting a snake on the coat of arms of a man who sneaked into his friend's castle to rape the latter's wife may seem as a very unsubtle metaphor, but the Le Gris family really had such a coat of arms. In medieval heraldry, it represented wisdom.

* TragicVillain: Jacques gains a great deal of power and wealth as a result of his friendship and utility to Count Pierre, and gets to enjoy the temporary pleasures of the Count's debauched lifestyle -- but in the process, he loses a close friend in Jean and [[spoiler:ultimately his life. In addition, it's not only directly stated that his [[TheCasanova reputation for excess]] has made it hard for him to pursue healthy, normal romantic relationships (at one point in Jacques's version, when he tries to flirt with a noblewoman she's already had a bad report of him from other women and rejects him, and even in Marguerite's version the ladies gossip about how he's not the marrying kind) but the viewer is also shown how Jacques' lifestyle actually distorted his own ability to distinguish between pornographic fantasy and reality, meaning he fixated on Marguerite and genuinely came to believe she loved him after meeting her ''once''. This culminates in Marguerite being raped when he misinterprets her refusals as coyly playing hard-to-get, and even at the point of ''death'' he denies that he raped her because, from his point of view, he didn't]]. The film overall humanizes him and tries to help the audience understand him, without ever condoning or trying to excuse his actions.

** Count Pierre introduces his wife to the party as pregnant with their eighth child and tells jokes, which [[StepfordSmiler she laughs along with everyone else until she leaves the room]] and her smile immediately turns into a scowl. Pierre is soon shown to be regularly engaged in orgies.

* BeautyInversion: Creator/MattDamon as Jean de Carrouges is given a very rough appearance with a nasty scar on his cheek, perpetual grime and unflattering haircut and beard (or at least unflattering by modern standards). Creator/BenAffleck is a little similar, as while he is supposed to be much better groomed as befitting a nobleman the blonde hair and goatee are strikingly out of sync with modern audience tastes and serve a similar role in hiding his handsome features.

* RuggedScar: Jean de Carrouges has a prominent and nasty-looking one on his cheek, as shorthand for his historical background as a more experienced combat veteran.

* UglyGuyHotWife: Jean and Marguerite. Marguerite is also significantly younger compared to her older and battle-scarred husband. It's a plot point that she never once enjoys sex with him.

* WeUsedToBeFriends: Jean and Jacques were old war friends, and would often vouch for each other in various matters. But Jacques found favor with Count Pierre and, [[UnreliableNarrator intentionally or not]], was constantly receiving property and promotions that Jean was in line to receive. They would go back and forth in their closeness over the years, but evidentially Marguerite's rape shattered anything that remained.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Despite repeatedly highlighting the pregnant Queen Isabeau as the only person with true sympathy for Marguerite, the film doesn't mention that her son Charles was born very sickly. He dies soon after, with King Charles refusing to go through the usual mourning period in favor of holding a massive series of parties leading up to the duel.

* ArmorIsUseless: Averted. Plate armor provides great protection against sword strikes, forcing characters to go for weak points at the joints or the face.

* TragicVillain: Jacques gains a great deal of power and wealth as a result of his friendship and utility to Count Pierre, and gets to enjoy the temporary pleasures of the Count's debauched lifestyle -- but in the process, he loses a close friend in Jean and [[spoiler:ultimately his life. In addition, it's not only directly stated that his [[TheCasanova reputation for excess]] has made it hard for him to pursue healthy, normal romantic relationships (at one point in Jacques's version, when he tries to flirt with a noblewoman she's already had a bad report of him from other women and rejects him, and even in Marguerite's the ladies gossip about how he's not the marrying kind) but the viewer is also shown how Jacques' lifestyle actually distorted his own ability to distinguish between pornographic fantasy and reality, meaning he fixated on Marguerite and genuinely came to believe she loved him after meeting her ''once''. This culminates in Marguerite being raped when he misinterprets her refusals as coyly playing hard-to-get, and even at the point of ''death'' he denies that he raped her because, from his point of view, he didn't]]. The film overall humanizes him and tries to help the audience understand him, without ever condoning or trying to excuse his actions.

** Jean in his own POV is a BloodKnight that is a great warrior on the losing sides of battles through no fault of his own. Despite his great service, he is robbed of lands he is rightfully entitled to. While at times being too candid, he's more enraged at his snooty lord than his rival Le Gris. In all subsequent re-tellings, Jean is a hothead with a stubborn sense of entitlement, almost always loses battles due to his own recklessness and thoughtless nature, blames Jacques Le Gris for all his problems, repeatedly repays Le Gris's attempts to mend fences with venom and spite, and is more concerned with his own reputation and rivalries than his wife's well-being or a happy home life.

* KarmaHoudini: Both Nicole (Jean’s mother) who suspiciously took ''all'' the servants with her to run errands, leaving Marguerite alone against Jean’s wishes, and Adam Louvel (Jacques’s servant) who tricked Marguerite into opening the door so Jacques could get into the castle, avoid any comeuppance for their roles in allowing Jacques to rape Marguerite. In reality, Adam and some of Marguerite's servants were tortured during the investigation; this was standard practise for low-born witnesses at the time, to make sure that they would tell the truth even if their masters had pressured them to lie.

* TakeThat: During Marguerite's trial, one of the priests proclaims that a woman can't get pregnant through rape and such a claim is backed up by "science"; the claim reflects the contemporary belief that women could not become pregnant if they did not experience pleasure during sex, but it also serves as a jab at Republican Todd Akin's notorious claim in 2012 that victims of "legitimate rape" rarely become pregnant.

* LastOfItsKind: As the title suggests, the duel between Jacques Le Gris and Jean de Carrouges that occurred on December 1386 was the last legally sanctioned trial by combat in France. Duels to settle private grievances were still authorized by the crown for another 200 years. The [[https://youtu.be/e68nuAcSuWQ last recorded sword duel]] in France to settle an grievance happened in TheSixties, and was a duel to the first blood, not one to death.