The Trial of Joan of Arc

Unrated

2/11/19651h 2m

Premiere Release (US)

Overview:

Rouen, Normandy, 1431, during the Hundred Years' War. After being captured by French soldiers from an opposing faction, Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orléans, is unjustly tried by an ecclesiastical court overseen by her English enemies.

Director:

Robert Bresson

Status:

Released

Language:

French

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

warrior woman
based on true story
historical figure
trial
hundred years' war
young woman
religious fundamentalism
martyrdom
french court
witch hunt
political corruption
joan of arc
15th century
medieval france
medieval history
jeanne d'arc

Cast

Florence Delay

~ as ~

Jeanne d'Arc

Jean-Claude Fourneau

~ as ~

Bishop Cauchon

Roger Honorat

~ as ~

Jean Beaupere

Marc Jacquier

~ as ~

Jean Lemaitre

Jean Gillibert

~ as ~

Jean de Châtillon

Michel Herubel

~ as ~

Isambert de la Pierre

André Régnier

~ as ~

D'Estivet

Arthur Le Bau

~ as ~

Jean Massieu

Marcel Darbaud

~ as ~

Nicolas de Houppeville

Philippe Dreux

~ as ~

Martin Ladvenu

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 3 year(s) ago
7
There is something especially evocative about the way in which this quite short film has been put together by Robert Bresson and Léonce-Henri Burel. In just over an hour, it offers us a startlingly bleak interpretation of the last weeks of Joan of Arc's life, imprisoned, manipulated and subjected to immense amounts of intellectual cruelty by a church and a state that was determined that she should burn - regardless of any guilt or innocence. Florence Delay is very effective in the tital role - probably the best characterisation of this woman I have ever seen. Jean-Claude Fourneau is also at the top of his game as the prosecuting bishop "Cauchon" offering us a vision of a man as devoid of any Christian kindness as it is possible to imagine. Given everyone knows what did happen to this tortured soul, Bresson still manages to elicit a considerable degree of optimism: might things end differently this time? The dialogue is bland. Not in any dull sense, but in a matter-of-fact, non-florid fashion. The photography is basic and almost rudimentary - indeed, that also adds a great deal to the authenticity of just what it might well have been like at the time. If you ever watch any films about this historical event, then this ought to be the one...