THE MESSENGER: JOAN OF ARC
Karen Yeo
Directed by: Luc Besson
Produced by: TriStar Pictures / Leeloo Productions / Gaumont
Written by: Luc Besson & Andrew Birkin
Starring : Milla Jovovich (Joan of Arc), John Malkovich (Charles VII), Faye Dunaway (Yolande D'Aragon), Dustin Hoffman (The Conscience ),
Official Website: http://www.joan-of-arc.com/
This Review Filed: 16 Apr, 2000.
Rating : *** out of ***** This review might contain spoilers. Read on at your own risk!THE MESSENGER: JOAN OF ARC is a lavish Milla Jovovich vehicle based on the life of the French farm girl who led the French armies against England and was later tried as a heretic. Despite being stylish, the film is top-heavy, and wallows in its own opulence.
In THE MESSENGER, Milla Jovovich plays a girl who had visions and led her army into war, and chopped off her hair to show that she was man enough to lead the war. Hmm...women have always been discriminated against, haven’t they? Here’s the earliest living example of feminism. Just a joke. Seriously, was God really talking to her, or was she delusional?
Legend goes that when Joan was about 12 years old, she began to hear "voices" of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret, believing them to have been sent by God. These voices told her that it was her divine mission to free her country from the English and help the dauphin gain the French throne. They told her to cut her hair, dress in man's uniform and to pick up the arms.
Yes, Milla Jovovich can act, the filming is grand indeed, with breathtaking scenes of Joan leading her army into battle and fighting. My favourite scene is where she is struck by an arrow, and in her feverish state, she dreams of the boy sitting on the throne, always silently pointing his finger. The boy becomes a long-bearded, long-haired man in a white robe, that we would believe is Jesus. That was so good, it really struck me, the whirling wind, the interspersing of this scene at key points through the film.
But where’s the substance of the story? The emotional connection with the audience? The surprises, the twists and the turns? I never actually start to feel for Joan, because she never seems to need love, sorrow or sympathy. What was her death for? If she was truly deluded about being a messenger of God, did she die for a lie? She firmly believed in her cause. What was the use of canonizing her only after she was dead and burnt at the stake, a most horrific way to die?
Early on in the story, we see her as a young girl, insisting on confessionals every time, asking for a priest. Was she feeling guilty, truly pious or self-righteous and attention-seeking? Later, as a young woman, she managed to pick out the true dauphin amidst a group of strangers as a test that she was indeed sent from God. It serves to explain her supposed sainthood, but as a scene, it didn’t offer me any surprises.
She believes that the sword landing beside her is a sign from God. A friend of mine who watched the film with me loved the scene where the conscience, played by Dustin Hoffman, questioned her beliefs that the sword landing beside her was a divine sign, and gave many possible scenarios of why or how the sword could have come to land beside her -- two boys playing. A hijacking. A duel with the loser’s sword flying high into the air, knocked out of his hand by his opponent.
The special effects were good, but what else can one expect from Luc Besson, who’s churned out other sleek success vehicles like LA FEMME NIKITA and THE FIFTH ELEMENT? The problem is, it takes more than excellent cinematography and direction to make a successful film. Milla being who she is (she was romantically involved with Luc Besson at the time), he gives her every chance to show off.
My verdict: it’s worth watching, definitely stylish. I’d give it about 3 stars out of 5. ANGELA'S ASHES is far better than it, and it is far better than THREE KINGS.
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