Matt Damon (50) and Ben Affleck (49) have been the most famous Hollywood male friendship since they received the Oscar for the screenplay of “Good Will Hunting” in 1998. Affleck explains why this friendship is so important to both of them: “In over 20 years in the spotlight, it helps not to turn away when you have your best friend by your side.”
Now, for the first time in 25 years, the two buddies have written a script together and also star in the film. At the end of this week, “The Last Duel” celebrates its premiere at the Zurich Film Festival. It is about the wife (Jodie Comer) of a knight (Matt Damon) who accuses the noble squire Jacques (Adam Driver) of raping her. Then the French King Charles VI. (Ben Affleck) the last knight duel in France. The fight should decide between guilt or innocence.
Pretty much best friends
Ben Affleck (49) and Matt Damon (50) have known each other since school in Boston (USA). After graduating from high school, they moved to Los Angeles together. Together they wrote the screenplay for “Good Will Hunting”, for which they both received an Oscar in 1998. Affleck’s best-known films include “Pearl Harbor” (2001), “The Town” (2010) and “Gone Girl” (2014). Damon, in turn, became a superstar with “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001), “The Bourne Identity” (2002) and “Contagion” (2011). Damon recently joked about the newly flared love between his buddy and Jennifer Lopez (52): “I hate true love.” He himself has been married to the former bartender Luciana Barroso (45) for 16 years.
Ben Affleck (49) and Matt Damon (50) have known each other since school in Boston (USA). After graduating from high school, they moved to Los Angeles together. Together they wrote the screenplay for “Good Will Hunting”, for which they both received an Oscar in 1998. Affleck’s best-known films include “Pearl Harbor” (2001), “The Town” (2010) and “Gone Girl” (2014). Damon, in turn, became a superstar with “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001), “The Bourne Identity” (2002) and “Contagion” (2011). Damon recently joked about the newly flared love between his buddy and Jennifer Lopez (52): “I hate true love.” He himself has been married to the former bartender Luciana Barroso (45) for 16 years.
Mr. Affleck, blade crosses and defense of honor – that sounds like a classic macho flick?
Ben Affleck: The impression is deceptive. “The Last Duel” is the true story of a great woman named Marguerite de Carrouges, who in 1368 had the courage to pillory her rapist and demand justice. As a woman, she challenges a powerful man with great personal risk. It’s a really feminist film.
Something like «MeToo» in the Middle Ages?
Affleck: Exactly. That is why the topic is still so relevant today.
Why are you only coming up with it now?
Matt Damon: I’ve known the book the film is based on since 2011 and found it fascinating even then. But it took a while before we could secure the rights.
As men, how could you convey the women’s perspective so well?
Demon: By only writing the male roles. For the female perspective, we worked with screenwriter Nicole Holofcener. She wrote almost the entire third part by herself because it almost exclusively tells Marguerite’s side.
Affleck: Apart from that – I consider myself a feminist.
Demon: Ah! Is that why the blonde wig in the film comes from?
Affleck: Nope – I just wanted to wear a wig! Seriously: I have a deep empathy for Marguerite and her fate. Above all, it’s a true story!
The knights of the Middle Ages are always portrayed as the prototype of the gentleman – as men of honor who would sacrifice their lives for innocent women. Your film puts these men in a completely different light!
Affleck: It’s all just a historical illusion. The fact is that men denied women all basic rights at the time. No cavaliers! The law of the fittest prevailed in society. For women this meant that it didn’t matter whether they were right or not.
Demon: The noble squire who raped Marguerite cannot see anything wrong in this. In his opinion, he just took what was due to him. The way he learned it and how everyone did it. Women were not persons then, they were the property of their father or their husband.
What was it like to write a script together again after a quarter of a century?
Demon: We were a lot more effective than when we first worked together. We wrote thousands of pages for Good Will Hunting because we didn’t really know what we were doing. After 30 years of film sets, we’ve got the hang of it! We were both amazed that we were done after a good six weeks.
Affleck: I totally shocked Matt when I presented him with an outline at the beginning.
If you go back 25 years to the moment you wrote “Good Will Hunting”, how much has your life changed today?
Demon: At that time we had an infinite amount of time and no obligations. We were in our early twenties, unemployed and had nothing else to do but write. Today we both have children and we have to adjust our diaries according to who has to take his kids where and when and who has to pick them up again.