Joan the Maid [Blu-ray]

This movie goes into detail about Joan's life that you ever knew. It moves rather slowly, but it does so for detail Between the two parts it runs 5 hours, and every detail of Joan's life is explored from the time she realized that God was speaking to her until her immolation at the hands of the British.

This long 1993 French film sacrifices spectacle (and a star from my rating) in favor of an accurate and engaging character study of Joan of Arc (Jeanne la Pucelle). The low-budget look nullifies the impact of the battle sequences, alas, but apart from that this two-part movie (edited from the original six hours, also unfortunately) is convincing and shows commendable restraint. Unlike flashier, less historical depictions, it is free of bombast and invention and Sandrine Bonnaire's Joan is direct, pious, and believeable. The dialog is refreshingly free of awkward anachronisms and makes good use of Joan's own words as recorded by historians and court transcripts. The pacing could be snappier, and the edits are annoying to those of us who wanted to see the complete film, but this is a faithful and moving story that is mainly well-told. Note: the two copies that I have seen have BOTH had the labels reversed on the cassettes, so don't watch the second tape first!

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I was expecting a masterpiece in 'Joan the Maid', but got a PBS documentary! Sandrine Bonnaire is in every way a convincing Joan of Arc. But part 1, called 'The Battles', literally has 1 battle, and a skirmish. The battle at Orleans, which in reality had over 12,000 participants, in this movie, has something like 100! After a while, listening to the characters talk about how to pay for the war, I really had to fast forward. This is no masterpiece. I really don't know what they were thinking.

In the November 15th, 1999 issue of "The New Yorker," Joan Acocella called Rivette's "Joan the Maid" "the best Joan of Arc movie ever made." I couldn't agree with her more. It's also the most historically accurate. The scenes and dialogue are taken practically word for word from primary source accounts made by Joan of Arc's contemporaries. Unlike Hollywood's big-budget Joan of Arc epics, Rivette's film is modestly low-budget, but its simplicity makes it all the more charming. It focuses more on the character of this extraordinary 15th century young woman rather than on the big battle spectacles. As "Sight and Sound" magazine put it, "Rivette takes us not onto the stage of history but backstage -- to its green room." I found Sandrine Bonnaire's portrayal of Joan especially moving. Most portrayals of her fail what I call the essential "leadership test." (Would anyone follow Milla Jovovich's bug-eyed Joan of Arc into battle? We'd sooner put her in a padded cell.) However, Sandrine Bonnaire portrays an intelligent, confident young woman that anyone would follow. She charms the viewer as much as the real Joan charmed her countrymen.

Excellent film .....thanks