Joan of Arc

Miraculously salvaged in 1982, this grand hand-tinted cinematographic epic in twelve superb static tableaux marks the great Georges Méliès’s second cinematic triumph after his classic fairy-tale adaptation of Cendrillon (1899). Although the introductory scene which establishes the young Joan as a humble peasant maiden is forever lost, the film still manages to portray Joan of Arc as a saint and France’s national hero, through the use of theatrical long shots, experimental medium shots where the action is, and gradual dissolves. Starting off with the seraphic visitation by Archangel Michael, St. Margaret and St. Catherine, a 13-year-old Joan accepts a divine call to arms against her parents’ will, as she boldly crosses the iron gates of Vaucouleur, convincing Captain Robert de Baudricourt to grand his permission to lead an army. Next, as Charles VII is crowned King of France in the magnificent Reims Cathedral after the decisive victory at Orléans, the brutal Siege of Compiègne and Joan’s final campaign follows, where the charismatic commander falls into the hands of the Burgundians, on 23 May 1430. But in her dank cell, the angelic visions return, as the mighty celestial guardian, St. Michael, reminds Joan of her destiny, inspiriting the now 19-year-old woman to refuse to sign a retraction. Condemned as a heretic by the Bishop of Beauvais, Pierre Cauchon, Joan is burned at the stake at the bustling Rouen marketplace on 30 May 1431, resulting in a glorious apotheosis scene where the noble martyr ascends to heaven, welcomed by God and all the saints.