THE LAST DUEL IS A REMINDER OF THE MISOGYNY OF THE MIDDLE AGES
Soon after the beginning of The Last Duel, directed by Ridley Scott, Jean de Carrouges (played by Matt Damon) has just achieved another victory at the Battle of Limoges (1370), where he saves the life of Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver). A vassal of Count Pierre de Alençone (Ben Affleck), he returns home to Normandy, is introduced to Marguerite de Thibouville (Jodie Comer), daughter of a onetime traitor, and the two marry; though he is in debt, his residence is a castle, a reward for his military prowess. Marguerite’s father offers a plot of land as a dowry, but Le Gris claims that the land is his due to prior purchase by Count Pierre, and King Charles VI resolves in Le Gris’s favor. One day Carrouges departs to join Scottish allies in battle with England, and his military feats result in his receiving knighthood on the battlefront. After he returns to Paris, King Charles VI rewards him with riches. But while Carrouges is out of town a lot, Le Gris develops a sexual interest in Marguerite, apparently rapes her, and Carrougues now has another dispute, though Le Gris countersues for defamation, so a state trial rather than a church trial is held. Although Count Pierre acquits Le Gris, Carrouges takes an appeal to Charles VI, who in turn orders a trial before the Parlement of Paris at the Palais de Justice. The outcome is to order a duel between the two on December 29, 1386. Filmviewers then await the victor in the duel, the only lengthy suspense of the film.
Why, then, is Hollywood interested in 14th century France? One reason is that story is based on actual events that have been brought to life by The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by UCLA Professor Eric Jager, who considers the film 75 percent accurate. But that begs the question why a film in 2021 depicts a bygone era. The answer is to learn of the misogyny of the time, which still lingers today:
- One takeaway is the class structure in which there is a king, nobles, and peasants.
- One way to achieve upward mobility is to become a victorious soldier and get promoted or, on the other hand, to curry favor with a noble.
- Another lesson, offered as inevitable in Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), is that men are mostly attracted to women who are beautiful.
- In the Middle Ages, women must be subordinate to men and accept abuse.
- When a court hears the rape dispute, prosecutors spin stereotypes about women that persist to the present.
- Morality is the purview of priests, so Le Gris confesses to adultery, not rape, and a priest declares “Rape is not a crime against a woman. It is a property matter.”
- When Marguerite is pregnant at the time of the trial, the belief is that God would not allow pregnancy from rape, thereby discounting her claim. Nevertheless, priests and the Christian congregation believe that the outcome of the duel is a matter to be decided by God.
- The French king, Charles VI (Alex Lawther), is correctly portrayed as an adolescent teenager (in actuality 16 years old) having fun watching the duel instead of seeking justice.
- The custom was that a woman who admits that she has been raped will be ostracized.
- A duel is necessary to settle claims between two men of equal status, redeeming their honor.
- If the victor in a duel is the person accused of rape, the woman was then burned alive.
Two almost identical sex scenes are presented in the film. One is from the standpoint of the victim. The other is from the viewpoint of the one who claims that the sexual encounter was consensual. Most filmviewers will consider the Rashomonlike duplication a waste of time, but the purpose is for the film not to take sides in the dispute, which has continued centuries later between their descendants, historians, and jurists.
However, the last duel in France took place on July 10, 1547.
The Political Film Society has nominated The Last Duel as best film exposé and best film promoting human rights of 2021. MH