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Joan of Arc

Movie Joan of Arc Director Luc Besson Producer Patrice Ledoux

WHAT can you say about a film that is neither here nor there, where you tend to look at your watch every now and then for the famous finale. Well, this is exactly how one feels after watching Joan Of Arc. A young teenager from 15th century France who challenged the world’s most powerful army to retreat from her nation has been the legend, which repeatedly inspires filmmakers. This time it is Luc Besson (of the Fifth Element, Nikita and The Big Blue fame) who revisits his own history. The film traces the story of a young religious girl Joan, who believes that her visions are a message from the Lord for her to liberate France from British colonisation. Her intense conviction astonishes the French aristocracy and army into submission to her will and her initial victory in the battlefield brings the king-in-waiting to his coronation. Soon after, Joan meets a tragic end. Those very people who idolised her betray her. And she is burnt alive at the stake. She was then 19 years old and has since been an icon for ‘girl-power’ all over the world. In the 1920’s she was even canonised by the Church. Playing the lead is Milla Jovovich (last seen in Fifth Element) giving an energetic though unconvincing interpretation of the title role. Her designer armour (through which arrows pierce through rather conveniently) and super haircut somehow fail to inspire. Despite the sadly lacking script, the film brings out sharp performances from the other key actors- John Malkovich as Dauphin, the king in waiting, Faye Dunaway as his manipulative mother-in-law and Dustin Hoffman as her conscience during the trial period. This supposedly period film certainly lacks in drawing you into the recreation of the period, in particular the many battle sequences. The dialogues jar against this backdrop with their strong American English tone and modernistic feel. There are a lot of discrepancies in speech and given the English treatment the odd use of ‘Jeanne’ as her original name seems out of place as also the pot-pourri set of accents you have to tolerate. The screenplay is sluggish and is propped up towards the end by an interesting set of dialogues with her conscience that question the validity of her own beliefs and visions. That psychological reckoning is probably the most redeeming aspect of this somewhat disappointing film by this often-brilliant filmmaker. Luc Besson’s touch comes in occasionally in the camerawork, but it seems like his heart is not there in the film and the script lets down this remarkable and exciting subject in a huge degree. Given the host of brilliant directors, who have attempted this theme, it seems pretty unnecessary for yet another mediocre look at the French maiden. And finally the end is so abrupt that all your misgivings get a fresh round of activity. Luc, Luc…. It’s time for another Nikita or a dive into ‘the deep blue sea’.