It is also an aural one. My favorite scene in Jeanne la pucelle occurs near the beginning. Joan, played by Sandrine Bonnaire, is on her way from Vaucouleurs to Blois to meet the Dauphin. Deep in Burgundian or enemy territory, she and her escort of four hardened soldiers stop for the night in a ruined castle. But the soldiers lie awake, terrified that the Burgundians will suddenly descend upon them.
Utter silence reigns, but the soldiers still hear footsteps, twigs breaking, and ominous rustling.
When you see Rivette s film, you do. 4 Rivette s film succeeded in enriching our understanding of the past. What it did not do is succeed at the box office. Like all the Joan films before it, Jeanne la pucelle was a commercial disaster. The Messenger appears to be going the same way.