Part I. Joan on Film: In the Beginning

Hi there! Still not dead. All last week I kept meaning to write an update post, but I kept putting it off until by now it hardly matters. Still, if you could send a healthy thought or two into the ethers for my dad, that'd be keen. Thankee!

Aaanyway... A while ago, I had a wee idea. "Self," I said to myself, "May 30th is coming up, and as everyone knows, May 30th is the Feast of St. Joan of Arc. You have a nice collection of movies and TV shows about Joan. Why don't you do a post and blather a little about them?" And so I did. Except... I kinda got carried away (shocking, I know), and ended up with many, many pages of blather about the aforementioned movies and TV shows, most which is probably pretty boring. Not that that'll prevent me from posting, of course. Heh. I have all those words from all those posts I haven't been making recently lying around in my brain gathering dust, so I might as well use them for something. But honestly, I really won’t be insulted if you scroll on by. This blather doesn't include every movie about Joan, or even all of the ones that can be considered important, since, among others, I don't yet own a copy of Robert Bresson's Procès de Jeanne d'Arc. It hasn't been commercially available for a while, and bootleg copies only show up on eBay when I'm broke. This blather doesn't even include every Joan show I do have in my collection, since I never had a chance to rewatch my tapes of Witchblade. But it's a pretty healthy selection nonetheless, including portrayals good and not-so-good. Like Hamlet, Joan of Arc is an difficult, strenuous part for any actor. She's a tremendously complex figure, so susceptible to contradictory interpretations, so charged with fascinating possibilities. She contains multitudes. Playing her must be a daunting proposition, but an irresistible one.

And so, on with the blather. I'll begin at the beginning, with the silents, then on to the mid-century portrayals, then the Joans of the '90s, and finally, television. And for each film, I've included a link with at least a small picture of the actress in costume, so you can get a glimpse of the changing face of the role.

Joan the Woman (1916), Geraldine Farrar: ( 'No sword once drawn for France - shall be thrown Down!' )

La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928), Maria Falconetti: ( 'Si j'y suis, que Dieu m'y tienne... si je n'y suis pas, que Dieu m'y mette!' )

La Vie merveilleuse de Jeanne d'Arc (1928), Simone Gènevoix: ( 'Donnez-moi des hommes d'armes et je leverai le siege d'Orleans, puis vous menerai sacrer a Reims.' )

Next up, Bergman and Seberg.

Part II. Joan on Film: The Middle Age

(Part I. Joan on Film: In the Beginning)


And so on to the difficult middle years, with a pair of Joans more pawn than rebel.

Joan of Arc (1948), Ingrid Bergman: ( 'Death by fire is a horrible thing.' )

Saint Joan (1957), Jean Seberg: ( 'A dead saint is always safer for the Church than a living one.' )

Next- Ending the century with Wiedlin, Bonnaire, Jovovich and Sobieski.

Part III. Joan on Film: Latter Days

(Part I. Joan on Film: In the Beginning)
(Part II. Joan on Film: The Middle Age)


Next, a quartet of films from the '80s-'90s. Or three films and a miniseries, actually. No matter. On to Joan at the end of the twentieth century!


Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Jane Wiedlin: ( 'Noah's wife?' )

Jeanne la Pucelle: Les batailles and Jeanne la Pucelle: Les prisons (1994), Sandrine Bonnaire: ( 'Quelque folle... ou quelque sorciere...' )

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), Milla Jovovich: ( 'She's nuts!' )

Joan of Arc (1999), Leelee Sobieski: ( 'Come out, that I might send you to hell!' )

And finally, Joan on TV.