Product: The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (Region 2) (1999)
Rating: 3.0
An entertaining movie with an unfortunate message
For such a historical figure, I expected a bit more coming into the movie. Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie simply because of the story, the action, and the time-period. Unfortunately, however, Joan of Arc - the catalyst for legendary events in French history, the end of a war, and the first person anyone thinks of when there is even the slightest mentioning of burning at the stake - really deserves more.First, the positive aspects of this movie probably outweigh the bad. The scenery, style, and medieval genre is represented well. The film has a very powerful feel, and properly displays how thoughts, beliefs, and energy can be controlled and swayed by the power of religion. Such greatness has been accomplished through religion, but this film also shows the gritty realism of widespread death that has been brought about from religious intolerance.The bad, however, is two-fold: acting and influence.Joan of Arc was probably not a hyperventilating, over-reacting, deranged, incompetent military leader. If I were French I would hate this movie. It basically paints Joan of Arc as a vindictive, revenge-driven, screaming harpy. The fact that Milla Jovavich seems to have read an "Acting for Dummies" book written by Jim Carey - where facial contortions and eyeball bulging trump conveyance of emotion through acting - definitely didn't help either.Whereas Joan of Arc was tried for heresy, to me the people who made this movie should be charged with something similar. There is nearly no mention of Joan's military prowess, her benevolence, or her true religious devotion. The fact that there is almost an insinuation that she was speaking to the devil, rather than Jesus, is almost blasphemous.There's also the character I like to call "Creepy Jesus". It's almost as if everyone involved really wanted to show religion as an ugly part of humanity, the possibility of visions being realistic or divine, or that there is inherent value in religion. There could not have been a weirder actor chosen for the character of Jesus, and there surely couldn't have been a more negative portrayal of religion.The Messenger covers most of the historical details decent enough, entertains the audience quite well, but it's just painfully obvious that the director was interested in psychoanalysis of Joan, her actions, her visions, and religion in general.