VINCE'S MOVIE REVIEWS |
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Drama/Ancient War A French girl inspires her countrymen to defeat the world's greatest army and liberates her country. |
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Okay that aside, the picture does give you a reason that could lead to her insanity. She watches her sister killed then sexually assaulted while she is pinned to the door with Joan's Sword that fell from the sky. A happy young girl then turns into a fanatical teenager waging wars. The basic story starts off with the a very young Joan hearing and seeing images of some angelic figure . A sword mysterious appears to her which she takes home. There her little French village was under attack by the English. Her older sister hides and is killed by an invader, with Joan's sword. While Joan watches through a crack, her sister while pinned to the door by the sword is sexually assaulted. Eventually a teenaged Joan goes to see the Dauphin played by John Malkovich. Malkovich has been away from the screen for a while and unfortunately his return is rather lacklustre. Once she convinces him that God sent her to him to defeat the English she gets her army. Many bloody battles ensue which build up her reputation. During this time we see a girl is constantly over the edge, fanatical and slightly insane. Joan is soon abandoned by the Dauphin once he is proclaimed the King of France. This is mostly due to his mother in law who steered him to give her up to his enemies and let them take care of her. Eventually, as we all know, Joan was captured and sold to the English who trick and coerce the Catholic Church into judging her a witch and a heretic. To see a more historical account go below the Historical Joan article. Joan was taken and burnt at the stake. Now of course, what happens during her incarceration is purely speculative on writers Luc Besson & Andrew Birkin parts. This is when Dustin Hoffman gives his excellent and unexpected performance as the man, or, is he an angelic host. It is purposely left vague because here I think Besson wanted to use the man as Joan's conscience or the part of her insane psyche trying to rationalize what she has done. Though I really enjoyed Hoffman's part, this is the part that left me sour because here is where I feel that Besson is saying that Joan Of Arc is a nutcase a wacko who hears voices that don't exist. Maybe I'm wrong and other reviewers will see it differently but hey, these are my two cents, right. Expect to see plenty of blood. Heads and limbs will roll in great quantities. Besson uses interesting weapons during the battles which make the battle sequences quite interesting. The battle scenes though intertesting were not as good as those in BRAVEHEART. The 150 minute running time went by fairly quickly but it may deter some patrons from going to see it. Much of this movie is based on fact but the scenes with Joan's internal battles are sheer speculation. Of course this is what sours me on the film. Don't let this hold you back from seeing it because you may see it differently. It is well worth the money, but take some of it with a grain of salt. |
Starring: Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway, Dustin Hoffman, Pascal Greggory, Vincent Cassel, Tchéky Karyo, Richard Ridings, Desmond Harrington Directed by Luc Besson Written by Luc Besson & Andrew Birkin Produced by Patrice Ledoux Distributed by Columbia Pictures Rating USA... Rating Canada... Read Another Review Of This Film |
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