The Messenger

[6th Nord]

An excellent war movie - 'The Messenger', about the famous Maid of Orleans, Joan of Arc. It begins with a scene in the 100 years war when the English go into Joan's village when she was a kid, burns down most of it and a drunken Englishman rapes and kills his sister. She then has 'visions', inspiring her to go to the Dauphin of France. Knowledgeable persons basically know what happens, that she raises the siege of Orleans, but gets captured by the Burgundians who sell her to the English. Many of the battle scenes are interesting and well constructed. Of particular interest is the part of her trial where she bravely defies the prosecutors and the English and is burned at the stake on 30 May 1431. This movie is totally free of much of the usual Hollywood nonsense. A must for a Francophile, a person interested in Medieval military history, or a French nationalist.



6th Nord

[Stahlhelm]

I also agree that this is an excellent movie, and I do own a copy of it myself. It also helps that Milla Jovovich plays the part of Joan of Arc as innocently and unaware as she does. Just like a woman of Joan's young age and nonmilitary inexperience, Milla perfectly played the part of a young woman who knew nothing about war and leading an army. She was just doing this all on the belief that God had told her to do it. Be that true or not, in reality, it did not necessarily give her the required wisdom and experience. The belief in her divine calling merely gave her the drive and confidence to do it. It was a believable portrayal of Joan of Arc, what she did, and how she did it, so young.

Although, as you likely know, this movie got quite bad reviews by most of the so-called commercial critics. One of the ironic criticisms was that Joan of Arc, in this movie, did not have enough of the legendary heroic command of her destiny as a military leader. To the contrary, I consider this movie, and Milla's portrayal of Joan, to be the most realistic portayal of the events as they are said to have occured. This movie simply pragmatizes and makes believable an otherwise over-the-top, legendary, larger-than-life event in history. After all, Joan of Arc was really a teenage girl leading one of the most powerful armies in history. That's exactly what she was in John Luc Besson's Joan of Arc.

Many thanks for posting a recommendation for what is also one of my personal, underappreciated favorites. If you haven't seen it, check it out!

Most thoughtfully,

Chris

P.S. It seems that this movie even suggests that Joan of Arc could also have been crazy (or mentally-ill, to be polite), simply inflicted with delusions of grandeur. This is yet another way to pragmatize the events with another realistic possibility.

[JPhilip]

The Communists are an implacable force of repression and tyranny.

- Jean-Marie Le Pen -


Having some Le pen verbal vomit as your signature is a weird idea
the movie is crap anyway, Besson is no more a film director, just an advertising executive. IMO the brainless POS french nationalists stink, as all their counterpart anywhere in this world
If Jeanne d'Arc had "visions" IMO it's because she used to smoke too much weed...