Artistic yes, but not a dramatic masterpiece

Rating: Null/10 (10 December 1999)

It is hard to judge the quality of a movie like this. Any comparison to later films is doomed at the start because the techniques and features are so different. I did not feel the acting was at all remarkable, but the total composition was quite moving. I appreciated Dreyer's blend of cynicism, faith, hope, anger, and pity in the performances of the judges. He showed Joan's piety more in their changing reactions to her than in Falconetti's performance. I could not imagine her leading troops in battle. The trial probably did take a lot of Joan's self-confidence away, but Falconetti's wide-eyed woebegone tentative Joan, doing her duty despite her fear, generated only pity and respect for her courage. Who would follow a person like that? Christ after his betrayal kept a commanding presence. It was almost as if Dreyer looked at all the martyr sculptures, created a consummate victim for his film play, and forgot about the real person who caused the controversy in the first place. Falconetti's Joan would fit in well with the Children's Crusade, but was no Deborah or Boudicca leading troops, or even the Joan who passed muster with the King's counselors before being sent off to battle.
The "Voices of Light" soundtrack and the composition as a whole worked beautifully together on the DVD as a fascinating work of art. The end result was like a Ken Burns special or a video catalog of images, giving a two-dimensional detailed look at a time and place. Is it the best Joan ever? Perhaps it is more authentic than some, but it has a clear emotional bias that makes it no different than any other well-made agenda-driven film. I purchased it rather than seeing "Messenger" because of the almost universal praise for the older film from critics reviewing Besson's version. I am not sorry that I bought the film but would not recommend it except to those interested in the craft of filmmaking or attuned to medieval music.