The Last Duel
Short description
Set in fourteenth-century France, The Last Duel follows the knight Jean de Carrouges and his squire Jacques Le Gris, whose friendship turns into bitter rivalry. When Marguerite de Carrouges accuses Le Gris of assaulting her, her husband takes the charge to King Charles VI. With the woman's testimony treated as unreliable, the king orders that the dispute be settled by a judicial duel, a fight to the death in which the survivor is held to be the one favoured by God. The story is told from the perspectives of the three people at its centre, so that the events leading to the encounter are seen more than once and the full picture emerges gradually. The film is based on real events surrounding what is presented as the last officially sanctioned trial by combat in French history.
Ridley Scott directed, working from a screenplay by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Nicole Holofcener. It is the twenty-ninth film he directed in chronological order, following Alien: Covenant - Prologue: The Crossing (2017) and preceding House of Gucci (2021). Matt Damon plays Jean de Carrouges, Adam Driver is Jacques Le Gris and Jodie Comer is Marguerite, with Ben Affleck, Harriet Walter and Marton Csokas among the cast.
The production had a budget of about 100 million dollars and returned roughly 31 million dollars worldwide, a significant shortfall. Audience ratings are consistent across platforms, at 7.3 out of 10 on IMDb from around 205,000 votes and 7.4 out of 10 on TMDB from about 4,000 votes. A critics' rating of 7.4 out of 10 from 294 reviews places professional assessments in line with viewers.
What's left behind the scenes
- At the wedding, the priests kiss each other, then one of them kisses Matt Damon's character, and only then does he kiss the bride. This ritual was actually practiced in the Middle Ages. Today, a handshake is used instead of a kiss.
- The rape scene was filmed with multiple cameras so that Jodie Comer and Adam Driver would not have to perform it over and over again.
- Scaffolding is visible around Notre Dame Cathedral. The cathedral was largely completed by 1270, i.e., more than a century before the events depicted in the film, and in the 14th century, the supporting arches that supported the weight of the structure were being replaced.
- Matt Damon was unable to grow a beard, so the props department tried 20 different types of fake beards on him. It is said that he developed skin problems under the beard due to the makeup adhesive, so the actor had to apply ice to his face after filming each scene.
- Initially, it was planned that the scriptwriters Matt Damon and Ben Affleck would play the main characters, but Affleck soon gave his role to Adam Driver and took on a supporting role for himself. The reason for this was Affleck's commitment to filming the thriller 'Deep Water' (Adrian Lyne, 2022).
- Work on the film was halted on March 13, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Filming in France had already been completed at that point, and the crew moved to Ireland. Filming had been underway for four weeks, and an hour of screen time had already been shot.
- In reality, spectators at shipboard duels were under threat of death and forbidden to make any sounds (including shouts, cheering, and even coughing).
- It took 2 months to stage the duel (or the last duel from the title), and another 2 weeks to film it.
- The film's title stems from the fact that the clash between the characters played by Adam Driver and Matt Damon was one of the last judicial duels in France. The very last one took place in 1547.
- According to Matt Damon, he and Ben Affleck decided to enlist the help of Nicole Holofcener in describing the female characters in the script.
- The faces of the opponents would not have been visible under the helmets in a real duel. However, it was decided to show the actors’ faces, as both Matt Damon and Adam Driver wanted to perform in as many takes as possible themselves.
- At the 63rd minute, during the conversation between Marguerite (Jodie Comer) and Le Gri (Adam Driver), two pendants on her necklace appear to be tangled and then straightened.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
