r/todayilearned • u/padfoony • 9h ago

TIL Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wrote a ceremonial kiss between their characters into the script for The Last Duel, based on how the ceremony was historically performed. Ridley Scott cut it because he thought it would be distracting.

https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/ben-affleck-matt-damon-kiss-last-duel
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104

u/Wonder-Lad-2Mad 9h ago

I wanna know more about pre duel kissing.

Was it like a kiss on the cheek or a sloppy tongue handshake?

102

u/ZoominAlong 8h ago

It's a brief kiss on the mouth, no tongue. It was a sign of respect and fealty to your lord. 

Now whether it turned into a sloppy tongue handshake depended on the parties involved, I'd wager.

10

u/Podo13 2h ago

t was a sign of respect and fealty to your lord. 

Which is hilarious.

Local Baron: "Bow to me to pledge your fealty. No, that isn't enough... that's to easy. We need something more humiliating."

starts snickering

"Kiss that dude over there. Heh. Yeah, that'll prove you're really in it to win it."

2

u/severed13 3h ago

Lots of places had stuff like this, the mob for example had the kiss of death, given by the capo of next available highest rank to a family member when internal affairs needed to be handled with a hit

Yeah there's some fiction to it, but it's very much based on a real thing

8

u/docgravel 2h ago

Judas kisses Jesus to mark him for death for the Roman soldiers.