Product: The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (Region 2) (1999)
Rating: 5.0
Thought provoking film about the human side of Joan of Arc
This year I have seen three films on Joan of Arc and there are reportedly more versions out there. First I saw the Leelee Sobieski depiction of Joan which provided an interesting, if conventional view of a saintly Joan. Next I viewed the outstanding Criterion Collection DVD of Paul Dreyer's classic "Joan of Arc". While in black and white, it may be one of the finest movies ever made. Dreyer's script follows fairly faithfully the trial of Joan. He depicts a saintly, yet human Joan who is suffering greatly. Renee Falconetti's performance is unforgettable in this silent film (to which has been added a beautiful score, "Voices of Light").Finally I got to see Luc Besson's version. I was fully prepared by prior reviews to give this movie a miss. Well, forget the reviews. This is a thinking person's Joan of Arc. Bresson is really exploring what may have motivated Joan. Much of this is conjecture, of course, but then again, this is a "movie" and not "lives of the Saints". Besson speculates that from childhood Joan may have had psychotic episodes where she extrapolated meanings from random events. Her psychosis may have deepened when Joan experienced a traumatic experience, like the death of her sister at the hands of English soldiers. Her voices then told her to drive the English from France. Seems logical. Milla Jovovich's depiction of the young, innocent Joan, the avenging angel Joan, and finally the doubting Joan was very fine throughout the film.I particularly liked the character of Joan's conscience (the anima to the vengeful Joan's Id). The role is played by Dustin Hoffman. He punctures Joan's "balloon" of religiosity, questioning whether or not God really told her to attack the English. With this Bresson appears to be questioning not only Joan's source of divine inspiration but the justification of any religeous war. This may explain why the battle scenes are so horrific and graphic...so that the audience subequently gets the point that Joan wasn't fighting a battle with God on her side.In summary, what we find from Luc Besson's movie is not the divine view of Joan but the human view. It is a valuable contribution to the various depictions of Joan of Arc's life. Why is there so much controversy over Besson's version? Is it because many of us like the certainty of the official version and find it difficult to "think" about an alternative, an all too human Joan of Arc?