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An inspiration to countless theater productions, "Joan of Arc" carries an important feminist and nationalist message for its day 500 years ago. This rendition stars Leelee Sobieski and MIM gives it the thumbs up.
One of the best aspects of this particular "Joan of Arc" is its emphasis on the question of whether religion and legends are merely toys of the powerful to manipulate the people. Joan herself does not initially consider herself the legend that the people believe in. We also see the clearly political machinations of cardinals in the Catholic Church. It seems plain that some politicians buy the Church, at least by locality.
In some versions of "Joan of Arc," one might not see the details quite as clearly. Here, Joan considers her own political impact step-by-step and the issues of her using the people and the king using her come up repeatedly.
On the national question, we see that the French were having a hard time considering themselves a nation in the early 1400s. The British invasion of the day was helping to clarify matters.
After her initial victories in the war with England, Joan stops to consider whether her opponents were any less humyn or worthy. She was no xenophobe. Despite her doubts about whether God cared any less for the English, she usually concluded that French nationalism was a good thing. It appears that God told her so. We would say that the emerging trading class of France told her so indirectly.
The emergence of central governments and nationalism such as Joan of Arc's were progressive for their time. The problem is that today, various people have used Joan of Arc to preach a message of hate against the Muslims of France. Contemporary fascist and great admirer of the Black Book of Communism Jean-Marie Le Pen calls Joan of Arc his party's "patron saint" according to ultra-reactionaries.
Le Pen is the political leader of a generation of colonialists in Algeria. Joan of Arc led a fight against colonialism that preceded the American anti-colonial revolution. So we see that the French version of cracker is able to turn history upside-down by using Joan of Arc to justify colonialism.
The basic message of "Joan of Arc" is that a womyn could stand up strong and lead her people to victory. To do so, she suffered ridicule for her inexperience and her willingness to wear men's clothing to get the job done. Her father also disapproved of her self-chosen vocation while her brother died for her cause, much to her sorrow.
In many ways this is also a depressing film, forcing one to contemplate the religious mumbo-jumbo that has always had a grip on the people. The cardinal in charge of the district Joan finds herself persecuted in is both trying to guide the people while avoiding his own sin. Both he and the king come off poorly compared with Joan.
Nonetheless, Joan concludes that God wanted the king to be ruthless and betray her. At first it may appear she has chosen a suicidal course. Then we learn she says God would not want her to burn, and did not tell her she would burn. Yet, in this version of "Joan of Arc," she has the chance to wait for a military operation to save her and she chooses not to, which makes her complicit in her own martyrdom. We imagine this a touchy subject for Catholics opposing suicide, but still the Pope reversed verdicts in her case in the 1400s and eventually the Catholic Church named her a saint.
"Joan of Arc" has to be handled with care for history. Le Pen likes the story because he literally likes monarchism as a precursor to fascism. "Joan of Arc" also glorifies white nationalism. Some would take advantage of that in an unlimited way when Joan herself was shooting just to unite Paris and other cities to a French nation.
Note:
http://www.dailycatholic.org/issue/2002May/may22fms.htm