Ridley Scott directing, releases October 15.
Affleck must be hiding under a lot of makeup in that trailer; I only spotted Matt Damon with a ridiculous beard and Kylo Ren, unchanged from his last movie.
I wonder if, in the movie and in the actual duel, the attending crowd were nudging each other and spouting lines like “Take a good look, kids! This’ll be the last trial by combat in this kingdom ever.”
It looks good! I hope it’s as good as Ridley’s director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven. And yet there’s something a little unseemly by wanting to be in that crowd of onlookers. It reminds me of those ghastly postcards of crowds at American lynchings. But of course, as opposed to a lynching, both of the combatants in this bloodsport want to be there.
Ridley Scott doing another sumptuous historical epic? I’m in.
Does Ridley Scott have a thing for duels? I quite like The Duellists.
Just hair dye.
Thinking…thinking…
I’m in.
And that was his first movie… I wonder if he’s going to retire after this? Bookend his career with duelling movies? He is like 83, which isn’t ancient but directing is a rigorous profession…
Wow I had no idea he was that old. I can’t imagine traipsing about directing at 83. But I suppose on the flipside this is his last chance to give us more of his works of art, so if he’s up for making more movies, I’m certainly up for watching them.
He’s releasing two features this year within the space of a couple of months, The Last Duel and one about the murder of the head of the fashion house Gucci, both starring Adam Driver. He must have Clint Eastwood energy or the best AD in the world. I think this is the first film that Affleck and Damon have written together since Goodwill Hunting. Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said) has a credit too, which is rather intriguing.
I also thought about this, but none of the interviews I’ve read or watched in the recent past had any retirement vibes to them. Also, if he intended to retire, I think the studio would make that part of the marketing of the movie.
Watched this today.
Liked it more than I expected to, based on the reviews. Not many surprises in this, and there is one particular scene I did not need to see again, but this was definitely worth seeing. Strong performance by Jodie Comer - I’ll be surprised if she does not at least gain an academy nomination from it.
every commercial I’ve seen on Hulu for this makes it look like a ridiculous Hollywood satire trailer that SNL would make. Like on a night when Adam Driver was the host and Matt Damon just does a cameo in the trailer to make everyone go, “Was that Matt Damon in that totally fake beard?”
Heh. Definitely not a satire, though. It’s both thought-provoking, unsettling and well acted. And the duel itself is brutal (which it also was historically - the brutality of the fight was probably why this was the last legal trial by combat). Not perfect, by any means, but well worth watching IMO.
Edit: Really painful to see this film bombing. So undeserved.
I am a sucker for Medieval period dramas with sword fighting. Will try to see this.
I agree, it’s a good movie. The unreliable narrator element makes for an interesting viewing experience as you try to figure out how much bias each of the point-of-view chapters contains.
I hadn’t seen the trailer for this so I didn’t know how the duel would play out. I was sitting at the edge of my seat the whole time, gripping the armrests.
This was a pretty serious movie. Really dark and heavy. The Duelists was almost a light comedy compared to this. Without spoiling much, the last duel could go this way or that way. Like a brutal game of chance. I felt like tortured as a viewer a couple of times. There is no romanticism in knighthood, that’s what I got from it. Those times created great stories, but they are great fiction, too. I think the writers of those times were not really going for realism.
well, the second time was really important. Most important scene of the film.
Really strong Rashomon vibes in this film.
Oh, I know why it’s done that way, and it’s very effective. I could have lived without two such long sequences, though - it’s bad enough the first time. Tortured as a viewer is an apt description.
The Rashomon inspiration is obvious, but I really like the way the film shows the story from different viewpoints without - for the most part - altering the scenes. It’s really well done in that respect.
How can Ridley Scott do such an spectacle of a movie in his age? There is so much texture in the film, props, costumes, original location shoots etc … and he is 83! I wish I would be that agile with 70! It still has his look and feel, so I don’t think he delegated much and certainly was on the set directing the scenes.