IAN PIRIE

THE LAST DUEL (2021)
Starring Ben Affleck, Adam Driver, Matt Damon, Jodie Comer, Harriet Walter, Nathaniel Parker, Brian F. Mulvey, Ian Pirie, Sam Hazeldine and Michael McElhatton. Directed by Ridley Scott.

France’s last sanctioned duel between Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris, two friends turned bitter rivals. Carrouges is a respected knight known for his bravery and skill on the battlefield. Le Gris is a Norman squire whose intelligence and eloquence make him one of the most admired nobles in court. When Carrouges’ wife, Marguerite, is viciously assaulted by Le Gris, a charge he denies, she refuses to stay silent, stepping forward to accuse her attacker, an act of bravery and defiance that puts her life in jeopardy. The ensuing trial by combat, a gruelling duel to the death, places the fate of all three in God’s hands.

TOMMY'S HONOUR (2017)
Starring Peter Mullan, Jack Lowden, Ophelia Lovibond, Sam Neill, Peter Ferdinando, Ian Pirie, Max Deacon, Paul Reid, James Smillie and Andy Gray. Directed by Jason Connery.

Set in St. Andrews, Scotland during the hidebound Victorian era, the story opens in 1866 as 15-year-old Tommy Morris (Jack Lowden) heads to the links with his father, Tom Morris (Peter Mullan). Already a legend, “Old Tom” is greens-keeper for the Royal & Ancient golf club, where he established the standard of 18 holes per round; as well as the town’s club- and ball-maker; and thrice winner of the first major golf tournament, the Open Championship – which he founded in 1860.

Tom Morris has secured his place in the history of the ancient game. But Tommy will soon outshine him, retiring the Open’s prize Championship Belt while still in his teens (by winning it three times in a row), and, as the “dashing young man of golf,” drawing flocks of spectators to the sport and becoming its first touring pro.

Despite their shared passion, father and son repeatedly clash over the unwritten rules of social class, culminating in Tommy’s marriage to a woman of lower standing with a shameful secret in her past. Tommy’s beloved wife Meg (Ophelia Lovibond) figures in this true story’s climax, as Tom makes a fatal misjudgment that strips Tommy of everything he holds dear. From the ashes of that fateful choice, Old Tom rises to a mission that carries him through the final decades of his life: Honouring Tommy.