The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)

Directed by Luc Besson. Starring Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Dustin Hoffman, Vincent Cassel, Richard Ridings, Tchéky Karyo, Timothy West, Desmond Harrington, Pascal Greggory, Faye Dunaway, Andrew Birkin, Jane Valentine. [R]

Gritty medieval epic retelling the story of Joan of Arc (Jovovich), from her grim childhood and the crazed visions that convince her that God has chosen her to lead the French army against the occupying English during the Hundred Years War, to her eventual capture, trial, and burning at the stake for heresy. A protracted first act and confused third act prevents the film from reaching the grandiose spectacle of its ambitions, which means that the stretch that will be most familiar to audiences—the action-heavy battle sequences in between—winds up being the most engaging and exciting. Director Besson’s flamboyant visual style creates rousing, blood-soaked motion (fluid camerawork, crashing steel, etc.), and even a couple of new tricks that may send folks scrambling for history books to either verify or debunk their gut reactions, but when it comes to dramatizing Joan’s madness or deciding to depict her as faltering with doubt during her inquisition, the film struggles (leaving no chinks in the armor of Carl Dreyer and Robert Bresson). Besson doesn’t even seem to have full faith in the motivations of Joan’s own myth, inventing an incident where the heroine’s sister is raped and murdered (not necessarily in that order) by an English soldier as a vengeful incentive of sorts. Although she does appear to give it her all, Jovovich’s performance is often ineffectual, but there’s some good work in the supporting cast, such as Hoffman in a difficult “imagined” role that challenges Joan’s fevered certainty, not to mention Ridings’ affable brio in playing one of the French commanders, La Hire. Éric Serra’s score during the climactic burning is heavily reminiscent of a certain famous cantata from Carl Orff. Onscreen title is simply “Joan of Arc” (the title for the French release is Jeanne d’Arc).

59/100