Ingrid Bergman's fine performance as Joan of Arc is only the second time I've seen this famous martyr portrayed. The first was Brenda Blethyn as the villainous Joan du Pucelle of Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 1: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085668/.
But there have been other Joans. Can anyone compare one or more of them to Bergman?
... J. Spurlin
Milla Jovovich will always be Joan of Arc to me. Joan was Ukrainian, right?
shareYou mean The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. Now that I've seen this version, I'd like to check that one out, too.
... J. Spurlin
I highly recommend any film with Milla Jovovich in it, but that has more to do with me having a huge crush on her then with the films not being crap.
shareOh, it's not that good? I dimly recall that Messenger got bad reviews. But I still want to see it. It may have to wait until I see the Carl Dreyer and Otto Preminger movies about Joan of Arc first, though.
... J. Spurlin
I didn't think it was all that great, other then the lovely Milla. But I've always thought Luc Besson was a crappy director in general.
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Ingrid Bergman is easily the best of the Joans that I have seen, IMHO, although Maria Falconetti in the silent film "The Passion of Joan of Arc" offers some pretty stiff competition, and most critics would choose Falconetti over Bergman. Jean Seberg (in the movie "Saint Joan") was/is highly underrated, but she's still no Bergman, and Leelee Sobieski in the 1999 miniseries does the best she can, but she comes across as a modern high-school kid, not someone who is capable of having saintly visions.
I haven't seen Jovovich because I have heard that they completely distort the story there, but I understand she's pretty good.
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Milla Jovovich in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) is the best one in my opinion followed by Maria Falconetti in La passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928).
La passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928) is probably the most accurate one since it only portrays her trial, which is the only truly documented part of her life. Rest is most likely either legends or made up stories anyway.
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) is a bold movie. It portrays Jean as how it is seen by Luc Besson. Joan is not a saint here but a very pious and patriotic woman who seems to be suffering from schizophrenia. She is motivated by revenge and desperation rather than divine influence. Because of this religious reviewers has bashed this movie in every chance they get. You can boil down those reviews to "This is not the Jean i know." . I thought art was supposed give us new perspectives but i guess i was wrong.
Another group who bash The Messenger is the historical accuracy freaks. These guys basically rate this movie 1 because Luc Besson has included stuff that wasn't documented therefore lies therefore this is a terrible and biased documentary.
The 1948 and 1999 TV version of the movie seems to be favorite ones, when you ask why the response you'll get is "because this is the most historically accurate one". To be honest in the 1999 TV version Leelee Sobieski fails to deliver a convincing performance. I felt like i was watching a cheesy reenactment on History Channel, not only because of Leelee Sobieski's performance but the poor make-up,music,special effects,camera etc.
The 1948 version is better than the 1999TV version. It does a good job in portraying Jean as a saint but because of this nature and perhaps the fact that i'm not a religious man, the character felt unnatural,plastic.
Thanks for the reply. I've seen Passion of Joan of Arc since starting this thread. Wonderful movie. Better than the Bergman version. I still haven't seen Messenger.
...Justin Glory be, Delbert, you should eat! You're a count, for God's sake!
Dear J. Spurlin:
Having seen all of the "Joan" films more than one time, these are my opinions.
(For what it is worth).
1. Maria Falconetti- was the best!
The rest are not in any order. Problem with most history films is that they suffer by trying to be contemporary, or have a fantasy message that is too bizarre, or just suffer from an inept screen play writer, director or producer.
Ms. Jean Seaberg was too contrived and at times too modern- coquettish. Technical errors!
Lee Lee Sobieski, did not have the depth or range. This version was the only version where poor Joan suffered rape by her captors. They had to destroy "the maid" of legend. As she recanted she was no longer a witch; she was just an ordinary woman captive. There was a phobia about touching a witch.
Florence Delay (1962), boring and tried to make Joan look modern(???).
Milla Jovovich Played Joan as on a constant high of hysteria with questionable sanity. This film included her battles. Made my teeth itch!
Ms. Bergman's performance, was stiff and stagey, but had some brilliant points. I have only seen the cheapo TCM version. Her death "dress" was accurate.