Watch The Trial of Joan of Arc For Free

Admirable film.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

it is the main virtue. based by original documents of trial, the film is a cold portrait of Jeanne. minimalist, convincing, blank, without the ingredients of dramatization. a form of docudrama ? not exactly. a form of exposure of director faith ? almost. because the film is a confession, no doubt. but one escaping to expectations. sure, it reminds La Passion de Jeanne d 'Arc by Dreyer . but differences are significant not only for different styles or ages but for the common points. because the same source has the different way to a message who ignores, in the case of this Jeanne, at the first sigh, the technique solutions. so, an useful film.

Though I have not seen Dreyer's "Passion of Joan of Arc" in quite some time, this version of the tragically inexorable tale seems quite different.Florence Delay's "simple maid" rarely betrays an emotion. So when you do see her exhibit some feeling -- such as when she starts from her sleep to find guards leering above her -- it leaves a powerful impression.This stark, extremely talky film is dour, solemn, and grim. The men of the church who conducted Joan's trial -- maybe the French are more accurate in dubbing it a "process" -- typically speak in the most clipped of tones, try to intimidate poor Joan into recanting, then brusquely order her back to jail.The film is compelling in its portrayal of a woman who loved God more than a corrupt and co-opted church, while her clerical persecutors' priorities were exactly the opposite.The Maid of Orleans is an amazing historical figure and I'm glad I had a chance to get to know her better through this prism.

Diffidence is the watchword of Robert Bresson's insanely brassy reexamination of the transcripts of Joan's trial--material you might have thought amply covered by Carl Dreyer's PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC. It's diffidence that makes it impossible to tell whether the movie is meant as an ascetically pure, un-underlined hagiographic manuscript, or the case study of a sociopath, or a cool indictment of the cogs of theocratic power a la Aldous Huxley's THE DEVILS OF LOUDUN. Bresson's only philosophy here seems to be a life-or-death commitment to the noncommunicative.

There are only a handful of films that have engraved themselves in my memory indelibly. This is one of them. First, it is in black and white, and I find it impossible to imagine how this particular film could have been done otherwise. It is perfect.The close ups of Joan, testifying in the ecclesiastical court setting, were devastating. Whether this film mirrors history perfectly is irrelevant. What I saw on screen was a portrayal of absolute sincerity that, for me, exemplifies the highest human ideal. The dialog was spare -- not one extra word -- and the photography was flawless. I don't know whether Florence Carrez (Joan) has acted in anything else -- I think maybe not. But I suppose if she ever considered doing so, this would have been a nearly impossible performance to follow.