Product: The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (Region 2) (1999)
Rating: 4.0
A Story about Joan of Arc
The Messenger, 1999 filmThis story begins in 1420 when there is war from the English invasion of France. Joan asks forgiveness for her sins - again. She converses with `him', who tells her to be good and take care of people. Joan is happy like any care-free child. She finds a sword in the grass. Then wolves run past her! Her village is attacked and burned by soldiers. Her home is invaded. Her older sister Catherine gives her a hiding place. Murder, robbery, and rape follow. [That grave is too shallow.] Joan will live with her aunt and uncle now. Can she forgive her enemies? Did God save her for some higher purpose? In Chinon the Dauphin waits. There is a message from the Maid of Lorraine, a peasant girl who wants to fight for France. Is she a fake? Simple people believe in her, it could be good for morale. Joan comes to meet the Dauphin. She avoids the fake. [Cold reading?] She has a private message to deliver. She wants to ask the King of England to leave France in peace. Or else.Joan rides to Orleans to defend the city. The people gather around. Joan has a new plan to attack the English. "So that's it!" The English reply with a simple message: never. Joan rides to rally the French. "Follow me to victory!" They do. They raise a bigger army before attacking the English. "Bless them all." Joan speaks to and inspires the French army. "Follow me!" Joan leads an attack and is struck by an arrow through her chain mail. The next morning Joan recovers and calls for another attack. Joan has a new tactic with an old tower to break into the castle. The French break down the gates and invade the castle. "We won." A glorious victory! But the English are forming on the other side of the river. Joan tells them to "Go Home" now in peace. Or be buried in the field. The British retreat, Orleans is free. It's a miracle. The Dauphin is crowned in Rheims. The holy oil of Clovis is used to anoint Charles of Valois the king and ruler of France.There is another battle before the walls of Paris. Where are the reinforcement from the King? Has he lost interest? The costs of a big army are high, diplomacy is cheaper. "France belongs to God." Can they stop Joan from attacking the Burgundians? Joan is defeated and captured in front of the city gates. The Duke of Burgundy visits her. British gold is the high bidder, Joan will go to Rouen for trial as a heretic. The Bishop asks her to answer questions. Will Joan see her visions again? Did she see what she wanted to see? Joan is questioned at her trial. Her answers are popular with the people. Can they convict her? What is she had been sent by God? Joan never killed anyone, she said. As expected, she is found guilty of heresy and other sins. The College of Paris agreed with the judgment. [Corporate flunkies?] Will she recant her beliefs? She uses an "X" as an signature. "Take her away." This is a trick to absolve the Churchmen from her condemnation. Dressing as a man in jail condemns her. Can she save her soul?Everyone knows what happened in the market square when Joan was nineteen on May 30, 1431.Five hundred years later she was canonized as a saint. [This is more than posthumous rehabilitation.] This is a very good story if slow and talky in spots. You can compare it to the earlier version with Ingrid Bergman, if you can find the video. The movie does not go into the political background of France and England. Later in the 15th century the English were involved in the Wars of the Roses. France defeated the Duchy of Burgundy in the early 16th century.Note how Joan was wounded with an arrow in her upper right chest, but at the end of the story she had a healed wound on her upper left chest. Continuity?