Three-act drama the Last Duel needed three better writers

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One of those Oscar quirks is Matt Damon. A talented actor, his only Oscar victory was Best Original Screenplay for 1997 Goodwill hunting , which he co-wrote and performed with his good friend Ben Affleck. But the two have yet to collaborate on the page together until now. The last duel is the true story of two medieval knights who come to grips with vicious beating after one is accused of raping the other’s wife.

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There is another wrinkle in this new Damon / Affleck collaboration; the addition of full-fledged director and Oscar nominee Nicole Holofcener, the latter for her screenplay for 2018 Can you ever forgive me?

Affleck says, “Matt and I worked on it first, then Nicole really did the third act, and then we all worked together after that. “

Damon adds, “With a three act movie, you have to talk to yourself, because there are things that you organize in the first and second acts that have to pay off in the third act. We all knew what we were doing, but there were some wonderful and exhilarating times as writers when we got pages from Nicole and she wrote a scene we hadn’t anticipated. And it was so exciting that we were doodling on it – “Amazing! – and then send them back.

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“And then I’ll put that on my bulletin board,” said Holofcener, modestly but smiling. “Because you know.” She continues: “We were showing each other pages and we had to make sure everything was followed, which paid off in the third act. We got along very well. “

This three-act structure is vital. The last duel begins by telling the story through the eyes of the husband, Jean de Carrouges, played by Damon. Then he goes through it a second time from the point of view of the accused, Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), whose boss is the wealthy Count Pierre d’Alençon (Affleck). And finally we see the experience of the wife, with Marguerite de Carrouges interpreted by Jodie Comer.

“It’s terrible that no one knows this story and that no one knows Marguerite,” says Holofcener. “But to some extent it frees me up because I didn’t have to do it right for the audience, I just had to do it right for us, and for Jodie, and for [Marguerite], wherever it is. Yeah, I felt some pressure that way, but mostly the normal pressure of trying to write a good character, make a good movie, and do Marguerite justice.

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Affleck points out that there is plenty of information regarding the 1386 duel, including a well-documented 2004 book by literary expert and historian Eric Jager. “There was a lot of documentation around the men and their experiences, and almost none around Marguerite,” he says. “It was up to Nicole to really make a lot of parts, when Matt and I could build on a lot of historical documents that existed. “

Being co-stars as well as co-writers has given Affleck and Damon some leeway in their performances, Damon says.

“I remember that scene… when I told Adam to call me sir. We’re in Adam’s story and this guy is just irascible and jealous – my character, I mean. You’re like, God what a hole. And as we were shooting the scene, I got so pissed off at Adam that I started goading him and saying “Sir! Sir!’ And we didn’t write that; it was just one of those things that popped up right then. We looked at each other and we were like ‘that looked good’, so it stuck in the movie. “

He continues: “But the benefit of writing for ourselves – which we obviously did with Goodwill hunting also – can we, in the comfort of our own home, sit there and the studio for each other, and refine it to the point where we practically have to go and photograph it that same day. We have a good idea, a good game plan of what we want to do.

The Last Duel opens October 15 in theaters.