Product: The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (Region 2) (1999)
Rating: 4.0
A wonderful film, with only minor faults.
The Messenger: The Story of Joan Of Arc, was extremely moving. I thought the film portrayed Joan Of Arc as she would have likely been. Her constant compulsion to confess her sins, and her visions of God, seemed realistic. For a late-teen, female, during the Hundred Years War, to have convinced the King of France to give her command of an army, Joan Of Arc must have been as eccentric as Milla Jovovich presented her. Jovovich, and her surrounding cast, did a good job.I think the film's use of Dustin Hoffman as Joan Of Arc's conscience was very well done. I noticed in other reviews, that several people found Hoffman's role to be confusing. I understood clearly what his character represented. He symbolized Joan's conscience, and her process of self examination after being captured.Also, I think the film's battle scenes were well done. The costume and prop work was nice too. The Hundred Years war saw the dawn of some amazing advancements in armor, battle tactics, and weaponry, and The Messenger did a good job in demonstrating that. Many other films from this era show only a handful of men-at-arms, with the remainder of the armies being lightly armored infantry. Finally a film had a majority of it's fighting men in full armor, the way they actually were during the closing years of the Hundred Years War.The only flaw that I found was minor and superficial. I found some of the musical pieces to be a little too modern sounding. I do not like it when period films use modern style music. But I only noticed a couple ballads that bothered me. Other than that, I found no problems.Overall, The Messenger receives four stars. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the history of either The Hundred Years War, or that of Joan Of Arc.