Product: The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (Region 2) (1999)
Rating: 5.0
Drama At It's Best
Of course, the majority of critics rated this movie low because of "historical innaccuracy". But for WHAT this movie represented: both sides to an internal conflict inside Joan of Arc, it was excellent.Dustin Hoffman plays Joan of Arc's "Conscience", making her question whether she is defeating the English (Joan is French, BTW) by will of God, or by will of herself. She struggles, almost, to the edge of insanity. This movie makes you wonder whether Joan's visions or "path" were from God, or whether they simply had nothing to do God, but just her wanting to save her country. Either way, at the end of the movie, you can look at it both ways. This is one of the few movies that can do that, and leave you thinking about "spirituality". A die-hard Christian would probably not like this, because it would leave them questioning their OWN very strong beliefs that Joan's visions were from God.Complicated as my review sounds, the movie is much more simple. It's a beautiful piece of work -- if you are an open-minded person, who will think about BOTH possibilities. If you are the type to nag and not pay attention to the subtleties and hints in her visions, you probably will not like this movie.I gave it a "5" -- not for historical accuracy, but for daring to question the strong beliefs held by SO MANY, stating the possibility that Joan was only a Messenger of her heart, not of God.