RIDLEY SCOTT'S THE LAST DUEL (2021).
Well, much of the dialogue seems to me in principle tone deaf; I can't help remembering that in the late 14th century when this true story occurs, apart from the fact that these people in reality would be speaking medieval French, there was nothing remotely like modern English. The Rashomon-like three-part storytelling is laborious, making the 2 1/2-hour movie over-long, and the rape part is too similar in each part to make much difference. Various critics have suggested just the third part, from the lady's POV, written by Nicole Holofcener (Friends with Money, Please Give, Enough Said; Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who're in the cast, wrote the first two parts), would have been good enough by itself for a leaner, swifter, more clean emotional thrust.
But wait a minute: lots of this is good, and at least looks great. Where Ridley shines is in the purely physical, violent bits, and the final, complete sequence of the medieval duel-to-the-death starting out with lances and horseback and ending with hand-to-hand hacking with swords, long blades, and halberds, in its extreme brutality and the rich Pasolini-like crowd watching, is shockingly convincing, visceral, and real. The contemporary relevance is in the basis of the duel: a woman's (Jodie Comer's) accusation of rape which results in the King ordaining a duel between her husband (Matt Damon) and the accused men (Adam Driver), his former good friend who has become an enemy. It turns out that if her husband loses, she will be considered guilty and will be locked in an iron halter and burned to death, orphaning her newborn son. High stakes. Good story. There's enough talent and money involved for a work of traditional Hollywood, though outmoded, to still shine.
Ridley's weakness with story shows here not in the story being weak; it's a great story - but in the three-version presentation not quite justifying itself, and winding up making us a little tired of the story - till that great visceral final duel. I'm not sure there is a clear visual style, or any style at all, but it's still as you say, "very cinematic, very visual." Uneven though Ridley is, I agree he's done some wonderful stuff. I remember what an immense impression Thelma & Louise made the first time, and as for Blade Runner, it's part of the canon of the greatest movies of all time. (I think Tony Scott's suicide was confusing to everybody.)
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