Joan the Maid DVD 1993 Region 1 US Import NTSC: Amazon.co.uk: Bonnaire, Marcon, Richard, Nozonn: Film & TV

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Amazon.com: 4.4 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Her Straight Story, 18 Nov 2001

By JHL - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Joan the Maid [DVD] [1993] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)

Joan the Maid is the clearest and least judgmental version available. It is also the least Hollywood version. The screenplay is a straighforward, chronological narrative, and Rivette gives us a series of tableaux along the lines of a medieval passion play. The abrupt blackouts are a little distracting, but the scenes themselves are beautifully played and shot. Joan is a challenge to any actress - the audience all have ideas about her already. Leelee Sobieski is the credible teenager; Ingrid Bergman the classic heroine. Sandrine Bonnaire's girlish behavior sometimes seems out of place - too casual for divine inspiration - but her very human reactions to events, particularly to her first battle, are moving. The simplicity with which she pleads her cause to Beaudricourt and later the Dauphin is also effective. The DVD includes a timeline and source material that are interesting and helpful. The subtitles are poorly written, giving "sow" for "sew", "spacious" for "specious", and sometimes rendering literal translations of idiomatic French expressions - a film so carefully made deserved better. That small problem aside, this is easily the best of the contemporary movies about Joan of Arc.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Joan for accuracy, consistency, and her final days, 26 Aug 2001

By David Clapp "David" - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Joan the Maid [DVD] [1993] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)

"Jeanne la Pucelle 1. Les Batailles[Joan the Maid: the Battles]" begins with Joan's efforts to obtain permission to see the Dauphin in Chinon and ends with his coronation. It starts off badly with an actress hamming it up as the Mother of Joan and telling what a perfect child she was. Most of the early scenes come directly from the rehabilitation hearings where she was portrayed as a faultless saint in keeping with the newly restored French government. Many of the actors in this beginning section seem to pose and speak directly to the camera rather than to each other like they were in a tableau or an elementary school Passion play. It may have been deliberate, but it didn't work for me. What did work was the great attention to detail and the settings. Jacques Rivette went out of his way to stay with documented facts and to take advantage of the true French landmarks and countryside. I loved the way he played each scene out regardless of what happened with the horses, props, or men, letting the accidents happen as part of the action. "Jeanne la Pucelle 2. Les prisons[Joan the Maid: the Prisons]" stayed with documented facts, using a fade-to-black after every scene, to give a flawless view of Joan and the people she encountered. Sandrine Bonnaire was outstanding in every respect. Her interpretation of Joan did honor to both the warrior saint and the human girl caught up in a tragedy. The prison and trial sequences worked in every respect because the director did not do more than let each character speak his or her mind. I especially loved the early prison sequences where Rivette contrasted the world of women with the world of men, again, giving each character a full and believable voice. It is the best historical treatment I have seen in a long time and by far the best Joan.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Joan of Arc movie made to date, 25 Dec 1999

By Rebecca A. Mansour - Published on Amazon.com

In the November 15th, 1999 issue of "The New Yorker," Joan Acocella called Rivette's "Joan the Maid" "the best Joan of Arc movie ever made." I couldn't agree with her more. It's also the most historically accurate. The scenes and dialogue are taken practically word for word from primary source accounts made by Joan of Arc's contemporaries. Unlike Hollywood's big-budget Joan of Arc epics, Rivette's film is modestly low-budget, but its simplicity makes it all the more charming. It focuses more on the character of this extraordinary 15th century young woman rather than on the big battle spectacles. As "Sight and Sound" magazine put it, "Rivette takes us not onto the stage of history but backstage -- to its green room." I found Sandrine Bonnaire's portrayal of Joan especially moving. Most portrayals of her fail what I call the essential "leadership test." (Would anyone follow Milla Jovovich's bug-eyed Joan of Arc into battle? We'd sooner put her in a padded cell.) However, Sandrine Bonnaire portrays an intelligent, confident young woman that anyone would follow. She charms the viewer as much as the real Joan charmed her countrymen.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 10 reviews 4.4 out of 5 stars

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Joan the Maid [DVD] [1993] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

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