''Joan the Maid'' () is a 1994 French
historical film
A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction such as ...
directed by
Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette (; 1 March 1928 – 29 January 2016) was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine '' Cahiers du Cinéma''. He made twenty-nine films, including '' L'Amour fo ...
. Chronicling the life of
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
from the French perspective, it was released in two parts: ''Joan the Maid, Part 1: The Battles'' () and ''Joan the Maid, Part 2: The Prisons'' ().
Cast
*
Sandrine Bonnaire
Sandrine Bonnaire (; born 31 May 1967) is a French actress, film director and screenwriter who has appeared in more than 40 films. She won the César Award for Most Promising Actress for '' À Nos Amours'' (1983), the César Award for Best Actre ...
as Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc)
*
Édith Scob
Édith Scob (21 October 1937 – 26 June 2019) was a French film and theatre actress, best known for her role as the daughter with a disfigured face in '' Eyes Without a Face'' (1960).
Early life and family
Scob was born Édith Helena Vladimir ...
as
Jeanne de Béthune
*Tatiana Moukhine as
Isabelle Romée
Isabelle Romée, also known as Isabelle de Vouthon and Isabelle d'Arc (1377–1458) and Ysabeau Romee, was the mother of Joan of Arc. She grew up in Vouthon-Bas and later married Jacques d'Arc. The couple moved to Domrémy, where they owned ...
*Jean-Marie Richier as Durand Laxart (Joan's uncle)
*Baptiste Roussillon as
Baudricourt
Baudricourt () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
Baudricourt is on the Cochon river, a left tributary of the Val d'Arol.
History
Baudricourt, Église Saint-Remy.The name Baldrici curtis is attested ...
*Jean-Luc Petit as Henri Le Royer
*Bernadette Giraud as Catherine Le Royer
*Jean-Claude Jay as Jacques Alain
*Olivier Cruveiller as
Jean de Metz
*Benjamin Rataud as
Bertrand de Poulengy Bertrand de Poulengy (born c. 1392) was a French nobleman who is best known for his association with Joan of Arc during the Hundred Years' War.
Biography
Very little is known about de Poulengy's life. He is believed to have been born sometime aroun ...
*
André Marcon
André Marcon (born 6 July 1948) is a French actor. In 1980 he starred in '' Le Voyage en douce'' directed by Michel Deville.
Selected filmography
* '' Le Voyage en douce'' (1980)
* '' Stolen Life'' (1998)
* '' Peau d'Ange'' (2002)
* '' The P ...
as
Charles, Dauphin of France
*
Jean-Louis Richard
Jean-Louis Richard (17 May 1927 – 3 June 2012) was a French actor, film director and scriptwriter.
Biography
Born as Jean Marius Richard in Paris, Richard was Jeanne Moreau's first husband from 1949 to 1951.
Partial filmography
*1960: '' Ã ...
as La Trémoille
*
Marcel Bozonnet
Marcel-Louis Bozonnet (born 18 May 1944, in Semur-en-Auxois), is a French actor.
Bozonnet entered the Comédie-Française in 1982, and became a " sociétaire" in 1986. He subsequently directed the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatiq ...
as
Regnault de Chartres
*Patrick Le Mauff as Jean Bâtard d'Orléans
*Didier Sauvegrain as
Raoul de Gaucourt
*
Jean-Pierre Lorit
Jean-Pierre Lorit (born 29 November 1960) is a French actor.
His most recognizable role is in the film '' Three Colors: Red''.
In 2005, he performed August Strindberg's ''Créanciers'' directed by Hélène Vincent, with Lambert Wilson and Emma ...
as Jean d'Alençon
*
Bruno Wolkowitch
Bruno Wolkowitch is a French actor.
Early life and education
Bruno Wolkowitch (orig. Wołkowicz) is of Polish descent. His father was a tailor turned bookkeeper, and his mother a beautician who became a dermatology assistant. He spent his child ...
as
Gilles de Laval
Gilles de Rais, Pays de Retz, Baron de Rais (; also spelled "Retz"; 1405 – 26 October 1440) was a knight and lord from Duchy of Brittany, Brittany, Duchy of Anjou, Anjou and Poitou, a leader in the French army during the Hundred Years' W ...
*
Hélène de Fougerolles
Hélène Christine Marie Rigoine de Fougerolles (; born 25 February 1973) is a French people, French actress who was twice nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress (known as the French Academy Awards, Oscar) for Arthur Joffé's L ...
as Jeanne de Bar
Releases
In the original version, ''Jeanne la pucelle I: Les batailles'' ran for 160 minutes, and ''Jeanne la pucelle II: Les prisons'' for 176 minutes, totalling 336 minutes.
American DVD releases removed significant portions; ''Joan the Maid: The Battles'' ran for 110 minutes, and ''Joan the Maid: The Prisons'' for 116 minutes, totalling 226 minutes.
A 4K restoration was released in August 2019, with a Blu-ray seeing release in December 2019.
Reception
Glenn Kenny calls the film "essential cinema", in which the director (Rivette) "... applies a cinematic style that’s both impassioned and elegantly simple and rational to Joan’s inner and outer life, using long takes and brilliantly considered camera movements throughout."
References
Further reading
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External links
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1994 films
1990s French films
1990s French-language films
1990s historical drama films
French historical drama films
BAC Films films
Films directed by Jacques Rivette
Films about Joan of Arc
Films released in separate parts
Films with screenplays by Pascal Bonitzer
Cultural depictions of Gilles de Rais
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