Product: The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (Region 2) (1999)
Rating: 3.0
Good Hollywood...bad History?
Putting together some great actors and directors usually makes for good Hollywood. This movie was no different. While not impressing me like Braveheart did this film still did its job as entertainment. The action scenes kept my friends and I riveted, while the sub-plot did the same. However, this is where my thrill of the film ends.Another review stated something regarding changing the names and not basing it on history...if that was the case this would've been a 5 star film, but, alas it is not. Instead we are given many falsities about the life of a beautiful Saint. After doing reports on the subject in the past I was surprised to see the murder of Catherine at the beginning, because nowhere have I ever read that this took place, and the "facts" degraded from there. While it is really no ones place to judge whether or not Joan was crazy or truly a servant of God, this movie attempts to make it look like, in the end, everyone decided she was crazy.If the story had been done factually then the circumstances surrounding her visions should have been left ambiguous so that people could make their own decisions about her life. But, I guess we are supposed to just see this as Hollywood entertainment that happens to have real names in it.My suggestion is to check out some of the books on Amazon.com about the historicity of Joan of Arc, you'll be surprised when you compare it to what occurs in the movie.