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- From Loose Waves to Tight Braids, The Last Duel Is Filled With Tiny Beauty Details That Tell a Larger Story
From Loose Waves to Tight Braids, The Last Duel Is Filled With Tiny Beauty Details That Tell a Larger Story
20th Century Studios
Content warning: The following story contains descriptions of sexual assault, as well as spoilers for the movie The Last Duel.
The story behind The Last Duel is one we’ve heard time and time again: a woman is assaulted and the men around her make it about them. The latest film from Hollywood BFFs Matt Damon and Ben Affleck centres around Jean de Carrouges (Damon); his bestie-turned-enemy, Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver); and his wife, Marguerite (Jodie Comer). Split into three parts, the audience is taken through several years of war, love, and hate, until de Carrouges and Le Gris finally come to blows in one of the last judiciary duels in France over the charge of Marguerite’s reported rape. A lot happens in between then, but at its core this plot lives and breathes because of Comer’s performance as Marguerite.
To bring her story – a true story, may we add – to life, Damon and Affleck enlisted hair and makeup designers Luca Vannella and Matteo Silvi. Ahead, they share how they worked with director Ridley Scott to ensure Marguerite’s story felt palpable on screen.
20th Century Studios
The Foil Between Marguerite's Beauty vs. Her Mother-in-Law's
The Last Duel begins right as one era closes and another (the Renaissance) begins, so the beauty looks we see on Comer largely differ from what we see on de Carrouges’s stifling mother, Nicole (Harriet Walter). This was on purpose, Vannella and Silvi said, not only because it’s realistic, but because it lends to the fact that Nicole and Marguerite act as foils to one another throughout the film; where Nicole is rigid, cold, and conservative, Marguerite is free, bright, and innocent. We later come to realise that, as women in the 14th century, they have a lot in common – specifically, their sexual assault – but we also spend most of the film watching them silently combat the other on ideals and behavior.
Vannella pointed out that Nicole had the same hairstyle throughout the entire film: tight braids that looped around her ears – a medieval staple. “She was a strong woman, but she never liked the freedom of Marguerite, how she talked to Jean, how she behaved, and the fact that she was taking care of the household while Jean was at war,” Vannella said. “And there are those older women who always wear the same hair, even now.”
Marguerite’s hair, however, evolved in almost every scene. When she first meets Jean, her hair is loose and wavy. Many women of that time would wear their hair like this while they were still unmarried, but would often cover it with a wimple to show they were taken (something we see Comer don in one scene while encountering Le Gris).
As for the makeup, Silvi worked closely with Scott to ensure Comer’s skin appeared natural and glowing. The idea was to keep Marguerite very simple, young, and beautiful, Silvi said, because her character didn’t abide by the aristocratic rules many others did. Nicole, on the other hand, was the kind of 14th century woman to follow the trends of the time. Fair, even translucent, skin was held with high esteem while most women preferred to be virtually hairless, which meant no eyebrows and plucked hairlines. According to Silvi, they were inspired by Rogier van der Weyden’s “Portrait of a Lady” to create Nicole’s look, which featured a bald cap, prosthetics, eyebrow blockers, and even a faux blue vein, which was added to her forehead (like we said, translucent skin was in).
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Marguerite's Makeup Reflected Her Trauma and Grief
Marguerite’s appearance takes a turn after a traumatic experience in the third act of the film. While grieving this traumatic experience, Marguerite’s skin goes pale, her hair becomes dull and unstyled, and her eyes are constantly bloodshot as if she’s been crying for days. The goal was to give her two distinctive looks that separated her experiences before and after the rape scene in which we see only from her perspective in act three.
“Ridley always said to keep her very simple and beautiful until the rape,” Silvi said.
20th Century Studios
Marguerite's Trial Hairstyle Is All About Her Truth
Marguerite’s hair also changes in act three. Save for the braided ponytail look Vannella created for the party where Marguerite meets Le Gris for the first time, the hair designer opted for harsher styles after her rape. The trial scene specifically showcases Marguerite with a pared down beauty look with her hair pulled back into a half-up half-down style that covers her ears.
“We wanted something really structured and harsh,” Vannella said. “That scene was the moment she said, ‘You have to listen to me, don’t look at my beauty.'” Unfortunately, no one listened until the concept of a duel was brought up.
20th Century Studios
Marguerite's Duel Braid Reflects Her Bleak Reality
Fast forward a few months and the duel date is set, Marguerite is being dressed for the occasion, and we get a closer look at the tightly braided ponytail she pairs with an all-black ensemble covering her from chin to toe. It’s bleak to see the character go from a young, free woman to an abused wife to a piece of property who, as the medieval men would say, awaits her fate. Luckily, fate was on her side that day because, according to history, Jean won, Marguerite lived, and Le Gris got his. The only real joy comes at the end of the movie in the final scene – Marguerite sits in a field – her hair loose, curled, and flowing once again – as she looks on at her son. Justice was hers at last.
