She has been remembered in history as the peasant girl who was accused of heresy for hearing voices telling her to drive the English out of France, during part of a time in what would be remembered as the Hundred Years' War. But to a lesser extent, she would be remembered for eventually having her name cleared and be made a saint in 1920.
It is the story which began in 1456, 25 years after the trial of Joan of Arc with the aging King Charles VII (Richard Widmark) searching around the palace for his subjects, before the ghost of Joan (Jean Seberg) appears in front of him. He would recall how she entered his life as a 17-year-old peasant girl arriving at the palace when he was still a Dauphin in Chinon but still being constantly bullied by others, telling him she had heard the voices of Saints Catherine and Margaret who told her to lead the army against the English at Orleans. But before Joan found her way to the palace in a soldier's armour, she managed to convince the local squire Captain Robert de Baudricourt (Archie Duncan), who initially had his doubts over Joan, to let her lead an army.
Among those who helped out in Joan's quest is Jean de Dunios, Bastard of Orleans (Richard Todd), or whom she always calls him Jack. It turns out despite after Charles had been crowned king, what Joan has done has earned her enemies in high places, even as she became popular with the masses, grew in confidence and having apparent supernatural powers. Jack would come to be one of the very few who believed in Joan. Joan wants Charles to retake Paris from the English but she was stopped by the newly-crowned king himself and the archbishop (Finlay Currie) who threatened her that she would be disowned by the church, which she has always put her faith in for her quests, if she did so. Her decision to still march on to Paris would be paid with a heavy price when she would be eventually captured by the English and be tried.
There are times when it feels like the story has been disjointed as the film progresses, as what happened in the opening scene shows up in the epilogue of the original version of the 1923 play written by George Bernard Shaw which acted as the base for the film itself. As for those who are not familiar with the story of Joan of Arc, it can look confusing with no background information showing on the screen at the pivotal moments in the life of Joan, leading up to the trial itself.
When it comes to what the film might had implied in terms of what was to blame for Joan's final fate before she was absolved of her original 'crime' it is still up to the viewer to decide whether it is what the film implies or not, but without any form of prenotion, that is if they have some kind of prior knowledge.
Overall, it is a film to help especially those who are not aware of the story of Joan of Arc and what led her to do what she did despite her background and what would to be of her final fate before being made a saint, despite the confusing elements in the film itself in terms of how it is presented.
It is the story which began in 1456, 25 years after the trial of Joan of Arc with the aging King Charles VII (Richard Widmark) searching around the palace for his subjects, before the ghost of Joan (Jean Seberg) appears in front of him. He would recall how she entered his life as a 17-year-old peasant girl arriving at the palace when he was still a Dauphin in Chinon but still being constantly bullied by others, telling him she had heard the voices of Saints Catherine and Margaret who told her to lead the army against the English at Orleans. But before Joan found her way to the palace in a soldier's armour, she managed to convince the local squire Captain Robert de Baudricourt (Archie Duncan), who initially had his doubts over Joan, to let her lead an army.
Among those who helped out in Joan's quest is Jean de Dunios, Bastard of Orleans (Richard Todd), or whom she always calls him Jack. It turns out despite after Charles had been crowned king, what Joan has done has earned her enemies in high places, even as she became popular with the masses, grew in confidence and having apparent supernatural powers. Jack would come to be one of the very few who believed in Joan. Joan wants Charles to retake Paris from the English but she was stopped by the newly-crowned king himself and the archbishop (Finlay Currie) who threatened her that she would be disowned by the church, which she has always put her faith in for her quests, if she did so. Her decision to still march on to Paris would be paid with a heavy price when she would be eventually captured by the English and be tried.
There are times when it feels like the story has been disjointed as the film progresses, as what happened in the opening scene shows up in the epilogue of the original version of the 1923 play written by George Bernard Shaw which acted as the base for the film itself. As for those who are not familiar with the story of Joan of Arc, it can look confusing with no background information showing on the screen at the pivotal moments in the life of Joan, leading up to the trial itself.
When it comes to what the film might had implied in terms of what was to blame for Joan's final fate before she was absolved of her original 'crime' it is still up to the viewer to decide whether it is what the film implies or not, but without any form of prenotion, that is if they have some kind of prior knowledge.
Overall, it is a film to help especially those who are not aware of the story of Joan of Arc and what led her to do what she did despite her background and what would to be of her final fate before being made a saint, despite the confusing elements in the film itself in terms of how it is presented.