The Trial of Joan of Arc
| The Trial of Joan of Arc | |
|---|---|
 Australian DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Robert Bresson |
| Produced by | Agnès Delahaie |
| Written by | Robert Bresson |
| Starring |
Florence Delay Jean-Claude Fourneau Roger Honorat Marc Jacquier |
Release dates | 30 May 1962 |
Running time | 65 min |
| Language | French/English |
The Trial of Joan of Arc (French: Procès de Jeanne d'Arc) is a 1962 historical film by the French director Robert Bresson. Joan of Arc is played by Florence Delay.[1]
As usual in Bresson's mature films, The Trial of Joan of Arc stars non-professional performers and is filmed in an extremely spare, restrained style. Bresson's screenplay is drawn from the transcriptions of Joan's trial and rehabilitation.
Bresson's Joan of Arc is often compared with The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) by Carl Theodor Dreyer. Bresson compared that film unfavorably with his own, expressing his dislike of the actors' "grotesque buffooneries" in Dreyer's film.[2]
Synopsis
In 1431 Jeanne, a French peasant girl, is imprisoned for heresy and brought to trial at Rouen. Despite rigorous interrogation by the judges and constant persecution from the jailers, her faith remains unshaken. The relentless theological questioning and argument in court is broken only by an ineffectual attempt at torture and an examination to prove her virginity. Jeanne's insistence that her military ventures were bidden by God is scoffed at by the English, who are anxious to destroy the legend already building around her. In a moment of weakness during the trial, Jeanne recants her faith. She is sentenced to life imprisonment, but when she retracts her earlier confession, the court decrees that she be burned at the stake as a witch.[3]
Cast
- Florence Delay – Jeanne d'Arc
- Jean-Claude Fourneau – Bishop Cauchon
- Roger Honorat – Jean Beaupere
- Marc Jacquier – Jean Lemaitre
- Jean Gillibert – Jean de Chatillon
- Michel Herubel – Brother Isambert de la Pierre
- André Régnier – D'Estivet
- Arthur Le Bau – Jean Massieu
- Marcel Darbaud – Nicolas de Houppeville
- Philippe Dreux – Brother Martin Ladvenu
- Paul-Robert Mimet – Guillaume Erard
- Gérard Zingg – Jean-Lohier
Awards
The film won the Special Jury Prize at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival. [4]
See also
References
- ↑ "The Trial of Joan of Arc". unifrance.org. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
- ↑ Quoted in Paul Schrader, Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer (1972), ch.2
- ↑ "Trial of Joan of Arc (1965)". tcm.com. Retrieved 2014-12-12.
- ↑ "Festival de Cannes: The Trial of Joan of Arc". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-02-24.