Believe Women. That’s essentially the moral of the story.
That and then maybe, men’s egos are a delicate and fragile concept. It doesn’t matter if we are discussing 20th century politics or we go as far back as the Crusade’s, which we do in this instance. Men cannot handle a damaged reputation and will do anything, including duel to the death, to prove it.
TRAILER:
Ridley’s Scott’s latest film is a three-hour epic that takes place in 13th century France. Battling for land and fighting over property live the noblemen of Normandy. Adam Driver is Jacques Le Gris, a squire and one of reigning Lord Pierre’s (Ben Affleck’s) favorites. Fighting in battles for the king, he befriends Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon), a prideful solider, willing to do whatever it takes to win honor for his country. The two meet on the battlefield and forge a lasting alliance, an alliance that soon becomes a deadly friendship.
Returning from war, Le Gris and Carrouges have two vastly different experiences when they return home after battle. While Carrouges (Damon) returns home, riddled with debt and unable to pay his bills, Le Gris (Driver) returns to the castle of Lord Pierre (Affleck) where he is showered in acclaim and prestige and becomes his personal advisor. In order to make a living, Damon must marry a traitor to the King’s daughter Marguerite (Jodie Comer) and merge their finances together. Meanwhile, Le Gris lives in the castle, where all of his wishes are cared for. As the years past, Carrogues and Le Gris are met with several disagreements that drive a further wedge between the two squires, but it isn’t until Carrouges leaves to Paris where things get progressively worse.
While Carrogues is out, Le Gris visits the home of Marguerite and Jean (Damon), knowing that Marguerite is alone. While the situation in question is told from three different perspectives, one thing becomes clear: Le Gris and Maguertie sleep together, whether it is consensual or not is where our conflict presents itself.
The entire film is told told from three different perspectives that we see on the screen in Chapters. Each Chapter represents the perspective of a character and we go through three: Carrogues, Le Gris and finally Marguerites’. However, the events don’t change, it just changes how we see them. We re-visit much of the same timeline multiple times, just from a different lens. You can see through the subtly of the camera how each of the character’s interactions with each other change when it shows the story from their perspective. This is what creates the three-hour run time. Scott spends almost an hour with each character, walking the story through their shoes.
Based on a supposed true story, the film represents one of the very first court hearings where a woman testifies against a man in a crime of rape. The King of France, unable to deliver a just punishment, allows the hearing to be resolved in a duel to the death: pinning Le Gris (Driver) against Carrogues (Damon). The winner of the duel, due to the involvement of God, will be recognized as telling the truth.
The film is bloody, violent and…. extremely long. While the movie is far different from the comedy satire that I had been expecting (especially when I saw the below set photos nearly a year ago), it’s also very choppy. Skipping frames quickly, re-telling the story over and over again from a different lens, it feels spliced together. While I enjoyed the film, would be shocked if it got any best actor/actress nominations, despite 20th Century Studios already starting to campaign for Jodie Comer in lead, it didn’t feel like a movie I would re-visit. Probably ever.
Take that as you will.
6/10
And that’s the sitch.
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