The Last Duel: A True Story in the Middle Ages
With the increasing adaptation of books to the screen, The Last Duel, which was recently released in cinemas and did not receive the necessary attention due to the lack of advertising campaigns, is not only an impressive story, but also a true story.
Taken from the book of the same name compiled by Eric Jager (UCLA Professor of English and Medieval Literature Specialist), this film tells the stories of knights Jean de Carrouges, Marguerite and Jacques Le Gris living in medieval Normandy. Although the story is told by three names, the main owner of this story is Marguerite and only Marguerite. To briefly summarize, this story about a woman who was raped in the Middle Ages wanting to defend her rights is resolved through a duel. The interesting part was that although it was presented as a duel, the most striking points for me were that the basic things in today's justice system are unfortunately not much different from those in the Middle Ages.
Women's Rights Unchanged for Ages… First of all, I will talk about the basics of the story, how it was adapted to the cinema, and generally why it is a story that has been researched by history lovers for years, without missing any surprises for those who have not watched the movie or read the book. In the basic justice system implemented in France in the 14th century, problems were often tried to be solved under the supervision of the counts without going to the kingdom.
These unresolved problems eventually reached the king, and serious crimes were resolved as a result of a duel with the king's approval. Although duels were abolished and reintroduced many times in the 13th and 14th centuries, they have a large place in French history. One of the things that was not mentioned in the movie, but was emphasized in the book, was that not every duel request put forward by a defendant was approved by the king. So you can guess the importance of the story this way. In fact, during the period in which this story took place, the last duel took place approximately 50 years ago. For this reason, I think it will not be a surprise to say that there will be a duel for the first time in 50 years, as the name of the content suggests.
Directed by Ridley Scott; Featuring names such as Ben Affleck, Jodie Comer, Adam Driver and Matt Damon, The Last Duel managed to draw me in with its three-part story telling. In my opinion, this narrative is a great method chosen to reflect the problems that an "unproven" rape case caused for a woman at that time. While the book proceeds to prove all the documents it found related to the event, the film focused on scripting these documents and passing them on to the audience.
For this reason, I would like to warn anyone who wants to read the book in advance: Do not think of the book as a story book, think of it as a documentary put on paper. By bringing together these documents, which he collected from various places for 10 years, author Eric Jager has enabled us to reach the version of the story that is closest to the truth. For this reason, knowing that every line you read was reached after intensive research and translation made me extra impressed while reading. Also, as a small detail, it is quite ironic that the documents that have not survived from the story are mostly in favor of Marguerite.
Note: This part of the article contains spoilers!!!
Dozens of People Against One Woman… Unfortunately, today, thousands of women suffer from violence, harassment, etc. They are faced with serious events such as these, and unfortunately, even today, we witness inappropriate situations such as not believing the woman, not supporting her, considering the crime of the criminal as light, and even finding the blame on the woman. I would like to say that the situation was much worse in the Middle Ages, but believe me, it was not much different. Overall, this book was a sad adventure for me to see how far the current situation has progressed from the Middle Ages level.
At that time, Marguerite's husband, Jean de Carrouges, had to support her in order to bring the fact that she was raped to court. Marguerite's only "chance" in this story may be the months-long bickering between de Carrouges and Le Gris. Because if there had been no such unpleasantness between the two, Carrouges would most likely not have taken any action to support Marguerite. It is thought that his only purpose for helping was to somehow humiliate Le Gris and label him a rapist, one of the most serious crimes of the time. This situation is handled very well in the movie, as described in the book. Marguerite, played by Jodie Comer, is constantly left in the middle in this conflict, she is made to kiss Le Gris as a sign of peace, she is questioned as if she were a criminal in the court of her own case, and of course, she is humiliated by being dressed in black during the duel...
The book deals with such details in depth in this respect: Marguerite's case is initially conveyed to Count Pierre. In those days, cases were forwarded to the counts of the first region without going to the king, and if a solution was not reached or if the plaintiff was not satisfied with the decision made by the count, they could bring the matter to the king. In this case, Eric Jager found evidence that Marguerite was not involved in her case when Count Pierre was consulted. This situation attracted his attention, and he could not find evidence that Marguerite was there, even in the smallest detail he found about the case. Unfortunately, the case of the heinous incident committed against Marguerite has completely turned into the case of Le Gris and de Carrouges.
There wasn't much that I saw in the movie that was different from the book. In this respect, I think writers Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Nicole Holofcener have done an amazing job. Because, as I said again, this is not a story book, this book is a document that addresses the centuries-long injustice done to Marguerite. For this reason, I was very happy to see it handled so well in a film with a literal translation. In the movie, they especially touched upon the customs, rituals and many Middle Age traditions of the period. Only one superficial issue caught my eye, and that is the issue of rape, which is the only thing Le Gris does not cover. Adam Louvel not only made Le Gris open the door and escaped, it is stated that he was involved enough to hold Marguerite's hands and help Le Gris during the rape. My guess as to why this part was left superficial is that it is already very difficult to blame Le Gris just because he is a known man and is the Count's right-hand man, and sharing the crime with someone else would be decisive for the seriousness of the story and the event. So the writers haven't done anything terribly wrong.
What Was the Truth?
Who is right in this story where the evidence continues to be erased day by day for 600 years and a different voice emerges from every head? There is no certainty, yes, but it is not possible for anyone who reads and examines the research to easily say that Marguerite was not raped. The first reason I say this is that, as depicted in the movie, even Marguerite's statement that she was raped is such a big confession that it would leave a black mark on her at that time. If it was a lie, he had no reason or motivation to risk it. I think the fact that she didn't give up even when she learned that she could burn to death as a result speaks volumes more than necessary. The second reason is that Le Gris had a lot of motivation to commit this crime. Sleeping with women was already a well-known and famous label for him at that time. In fact, Louvel was generally known as the person who arranged these women. At the same time, the fact that there was no one to prove his truthfulness when he said he was not with Marguerite that day is more than enough to raise suspicion.
YOUTUBE
