Product: The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (Region 2) (1999)
Rating: 5.0
"I NEED TO CONFESS!" ~ The Fragile, Tormented Psyche Of A Legendary Saint
Director Luc Besson has blessed us with, how shall I say it, a very different interpretation of the legendary French warrior/saint, Joan of Arc. This Joan is not the confident and serene Joan we have seen in other films, or may have read about in books. Besson's Joan is frenetic and unstable, she rambles on, shakes incessantly, appears often times confused and is subject to unexpected bursts of rage. Not exactly traits that would inspire either religious fervor or courage in battle.As a child Joan is portrayed as a obsessive compulsive loner who goes to confession two or three times a day. A child who hears voices and sees dark, disturbing visions of war, bloodshed and savages beasts feeding on human carnage. No cute, chubby angels or beautiful Madonna's for this kid. A child so obsessed with being with Christ, she sneaks into the church santuary at night, fills the holy chalice with wine and drinks it down reciting, "I want to be at one with you NOW!" Seeing that fragile little girl standing before the altar with her face and blouse covered with red wine is not only unnerving but vampiric in effect.This is a savage, sometimes barbaric film that uncompromisingly exposes spirituality and warfare in a manner that most of us are unwilling to accept. Dark, haunting, deeply mystical and overtly shamanic in content, 'The Messenger' is a masterpiece waiting to be understood by those open to new artisitic interpretations and diverse interior vistas within the mystical life and calling of a great saint.Most definitely not a film for those in search of sanitized mainstream inspirational entertainment and definitely not suitable for young children. However if you're ready and curious enough to look deeply into the spiritual abyss you might be able to catch a fleeting glimpse of the terror and horror that awaits on the Otherside.Postscript: Most people with a passing familiarity of the Christian faith have heard the verse exhorting us to work out our faith with "Fear and Trembling." That wasn't meant to be understood as a metaphor.