Joan of Arc 

Spurred by divine voices and visions, fifteenth century teen Joan d'Arc (Leelee Sobieski) leads French forces against the English.

Stars:

Leelee Sobieski, Chad Willett, Peter O'Toole

Nominated for 4 Golden Globes. Another 15 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Leelee Sobieski	...	Joan d'Arc 2 episodes, 1999
Chad Willett	...	Jean de Metz 2 episodes, 1999
Peter O'Toole	...	Bishop Pierre Cauchon 2 episodes, 1999
Neil Patrick Harris	...	King Charles VII of France / ... 2 episodes, 1999
Powers Boothe	...	Jacques d'Arc 2 episodes, 1999
Peter Strauss	...	La Hire 2 episodes, 1999
Ted Atherton	...	Jean d'Estivet 2 episodes, 1999
Olympia Dukakis	...	Mother Babette 2 episodes, 1999
Robert Loggia	...	Father Monet 2 episodes, 1999
Jacqueline Bisset	...	Isabelle d'Arc 2 episodes, 1999
Shirley MacLaine	...	Madame de Beaurevoir 2 episodes, 1999
Maury Chaykin	...	Sir Robert de Baudricourt 2 episodes, 1999
Chandra Engstrom	...	Young Joan 2 episodes, 1999
Robert Haley	...	Georges de la Trémoille 2 episodes, 1999
Matt Hoffman	...	Raymond 2 episodes, 1999
Jonathan Hyde	...	John Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford 2 episodes, 1999
Justin Peroff	...	Pierre d'Arc 2 episodes, 1999
Maximilian Schell	...	Brother Jean le Maistre 2 episodes, 1999
Ron White	...	Jean de Dunois 2 episodes, 1999
Jaimz Woolvett	...	Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (as Jaimz Wolvett) 2 episodes, 1999

Storyline

Joan d'Arc (Leelee Sobieski) is born in 1412 in the village of Domrémy in the war zone of Northern France. During her youth, she often witnesses the horrors of war, but her spirit is kept high by the legend of the Maiden of Lorraine. This says that a young maiden one day will unite the divided country and lead the people to freedom. When eleven-years-old, she starts hearing voices from Saint Catherine and Archangel Michael. Through them, she is commissioned by God to go to Prince Charles (Neil Patrick Harris) in Chinon, to convince him to become the King of France, and drive the English occupants away. Charles thinks that Joan could be the catalyst that animates his disheartened troops. He commissions her to lead the army together with Captain La Hire (Peter Strauss). After their victory at Orléans, Joan participates in the coronation of Charles in Reims. Bishop Pierre Cauchon (Peter O'Toole) accuses her of heresy, and is relocated to Northern France, where he associates with the ...

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Plot Keywords:

character name as series title | joan of arc character | reference to joan of arc | female knight | heretic | 

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Taglines:

A legend. A saint.

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Website

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 May 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Joan of Arc

Filming Locations:

Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Atlantis Communications, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

240 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite Joan d'Arc being nineteen-years-old, Leelee Sobieski was only sixteen when filming.

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Goofs

When Joan is shot by the arrow at Orleans, as she falls off her horse and tumbles down, her sword sheath bends as if though there is no sword inside it. In the next close-up shot, you can see her sword is back inside.

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Quotes

Bishop Cauchon: Poor, deluded Joan. She has no idea she has put a monster on the throne. Those are my last words as Your Majesty's spiritual advisor.

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Alternate Versions

The DVD (180 minutes) is the complete miniseries, as it contains 40 minutes cut from the VHS, which is 140 minutes.

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Connections

Version of Johanna aus Lothringen (1959)

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Soundtracks

Panis Angelicus
Written by César Franck
Arranged by Julian Smith
Performed by Charlotte Church
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.

User Reviews

A Decent Effort To Deal With A Controversial Figure

Overall, I enjoyed this movie. I thought it was well put together and well researched and definitely gave the viewer a flavour of the times in which it was set: 14th century France (although the movie was actually filmed in the Czech Republic.)

Leelee Sobieski put on a very convincing performance as Joan of Arc, the young girl who hears what she believes are divinely inspired voices calling her to unite the French people and lead them in rebellion against their English conquerors. To his credit, director Christian Duguay leaves the origins of the voices very much to the discretion of the viewer. They may or may not be real; Joan may or may not be imagining them. What's important (and historically accurate) is that Joan herself believed in the voices, and they inspired both her and the French nation. Powers Booth and Jacqueline Bisset were believable as Joan's understandably confused parents trying to decide whether their daughter is divinely called or simply rebellious (or possibly insane.) Peter O'Toole was well cast as Bishop Cauchon (and the religious divisions of the time, just before the open outbreak of the Protestant reformation, was well presented) and I was surprisingly impressed by Neil Patrick Harris as King Charles.

All that sounds good, and yet I can't find myself going higher than 6/10 on this. Somehow, in spite of the good performances and well put together story I found the movie inexplicably difficult to follow, and frankly much too long. An hour could have easily been cut out of it and not missed. To me, that's a major weakness. It doesn't destroy the movie. This is still a good movie worth watching. But for me, it just misses the point of moving from good to very good.