Author: Qing Ruxu
Ridley. Scott
If you know the old man's resume, it should be difficult to reject his new film.
Alien, Blade Runner, The Martian, End of The Wild...
These classics are from his hand.
Now at the age of 84, he is still highly prolific, and in the environment shrouded by the epidemic this year,
Still give us two blockbusters.
Such a dedicated attitude, who does not admire!
So today, Xiao Pi will bring you this old Ray's recent new movie "The Last Duel" -
The Final Duel
The Last Duel
On the poster, a group of familiar faces.
Matt Damon, the Oscar-nominated "Old Face" for Best Actor.
Adam Dreifer, the husband who dared to tear his face with his widowed sister in Marriage Story, is also the cold "Skywalker" in Star Wars.
And then there's The Little Pervert Judy Comer in "Kill Eve."
Such a card division, it is not too much to describe it as "luxury".
The work is said to cost about $100 million.
Although the global box office is dismal, the word of mouth is very good.
On Douban, more than 20,000 people scored a high score of 8.4.
The film is based on real historical events -
In 1386, two warriors dueled in the presence of the King of France and the princes and nobles.
This duel is both a victory and a defeat, but also a life and death.
At the same time, there is also a great significance, to prove that a woman Margaret has not been raped!
The two sides of the battle are a knight named Shang, and his friend, Jacques.
The two were brothers who had been on the battlefield together, born into death...
But one day, when Shang returned from a long trip, his wife Margaret told him that Jacques sneaked into the house and forced her to take advantage of his absence.
Jacques refused to admit Margaret's complaint.
The three parties have their own opinions.
In an era without DNA technology and surveillance, it was impossible to hammer the truth...
So they decided to prove it by duel.
In a movie that lasts more than two hours, telling a story that can be outlined in a few sentences seems a bit boring...
But why is the film so well received,
It's the way it's told.
"The Last Duel" is not a linear description, but is divided into three paragraphs, through the perspectives of Shang, Jacques, and his wife. Similar to the classic "Rashomon" of film and television.
So you can find a strange circle,
Obviously, it is the same thing, but in the eyes of different people, it is very different.
For example, the same is the memory of the battlefield many years ago.
At the Battle of Limoges, in Shang's memory, he was not accustomed to the indiscriminate killing of civilians by the British army, so he decided to disobey the order and save the people.
Although he was defeated in the end, he did not feel that he had done anything wrong.
He thought it was the spirit of a knight.
And in that battle, he also saved Jacques's life.
But in Jacques's description, there is no mention of being saved.
Instead, it was the whole article that rebuked Shang's recklessness, and as a general, he openly disobeyed military orders, which eventually led to defeat.
In the final accountability, as a brother, he is still helping him make up the pot.
Intercede for him before the Lord.
Again, the two had different understandings of the titles conferred on them by the lords.
Shang believes that he has always been loyal and hardworking.
Recently, the plague has spread, crops have failed, the labor force has been greatly reduced, and his wife and children have died...
But even so, he is still trying to maintain.
And Jake saw that, instead of caring, he ran over to collect the bill...
In the end, the king gave Jacques the territories and titles that had been given to him.
He felt that Jacques was just a sneaky, sloppy little man who had borrowed himself to take the position.
Jake certainly didn't think so, and in his eyes, the king would reuse him, entirely because of his own strength.
In that era of dancing guns and sticks, he was one of the few people who could read and write.
Always be able to calculate the accounts clearly, find that it is not right, and personally collect the accounts to ensure the stability of the national treasury.
Which king wouldn't like such a general?
Moreover, he has always felt that he is still extremely stupid, grumpy, and does not judge the situation.
The slightest dissatisfaction will be vented.
I would like to ask, which general would dare to speak to the lord like this?
Of course, all of the above is just resentment in the heart, and what really makes them go to a break is the strong J incident.
Shang: Since what you said before is reasonable, what do you say about your sister-in-law now?
Jacques: Obviously, your wife seduced me first, and she always flirted with me consciously or unconsciously.
And I am so handsome, and there is no shortage of women, where do I need to go strong J.
We are all voluntary...
After the trial of the court, it was also found that there were many doubts.
For example, Margaret once circled the handsomeness of Kwajak to her wife,
Secondly, her life, her father once united with the British army to fight us, such a daughter can believe what she says?
More importantly, Margaret was pregnant!
In medieval ideas,
They believe that only women will conceive after reaching orgasm.
In this marriage with Shang, Margaret, who is not pregnant with a child, has been accused by her mother-in-law of being "difficult to fill".
But now with other men, I am pregnant,
I enjoyed it!
And the judge told her that the court could not lie, and that if it was false testimony, she would be punished by being naked in public and burned to death.
Therefore, the victory or defeat of the duel between the two men will also determine her life and death.
Note that the central figure in this incident has always been Margaret.
But from beginning to end, you find that she has been in a state of aphasia.
This aphasia is the result of the objectification of women in that era.
The film ends with Margaret's perspective,
In her world, there is no grand narrative, but every little thing is suffocating.
Before his wedding to Shang, there was an episode.
The marriage was stopped halfway because of a dispute over a piece of land.
That piece of land was the dowry that his father-in-law promised to Shang, but now that he was in debt, he couldn't get it out...
Shang said indignantly, hoping that she could bear a son for herself.
The father-in-law immediately smiled and said, of course, the little girl is strong and strong...
And this conversation was said nakedly in front of Margaret,losing no secret.
It was as if she were a commodity, being bargained for by two men...
After getting married, Margaret's life is even more unhappy, and Shang's desire for control is extremely strong.
When he wore a beautiful dress, he immediately rebuked him,
Go upstairs and don't let people think you're a prostitute.
He was sexually assaulted, his first reaction is not caring, but whether you have seduced him, why not resist, why not run?
Even more excessively,
After the anger, he was forcibly dragged into bed in total disregard of his own mood, just because he was not allowed to be the last person to possess you.
And on Jacques's side,
In fact, I have met three times, said a sentence or two, and was made up by Jacques's brain to make up all kinds of scenes of thunder and fire.
From her own perspective, Margaret tells the truth about the male love story of that era.
A lot of self-touching, self-obscuration, and over-interpretation after the explosion of conceited personality.
It was the tragedy of that era.
But what is even more tragic is that even after so many years, modern society still has the continuation of this crazy judgment, proving that stories such as Margaret's will never be out of date.
Because, once you subconsciously take sides, you also enter the trap of the director's Rashomon narrative.
It becomes the audience in the story who can only shout in the arena.
In the end, everything will turn into a carnival of standing in line, a grand hunt for the victims.
At that time, no one would care whether Margaret was alive or dead.
They all became spectators of this duel.
So I hope that such a story is only a fable,
Because if you really go back to that step, then no one will be the winner of this world!