Jeanne d’Arc
Bruno Dumont’s second semi-musical portrait of the Maid of Orléans, adapted from the theatrical works of French poet and writer Charles Peguy.
In the 15th century, both France and England stake a blood claim for the French throne. Believing that God had chosen her, the young Joan leads the army of the King of France. When she is captured, the Church sends her for trial on charges of heresy. Refusing to accept the accusations, the graceful Joan of Arc will stay true to her mission.
Bruno Dumont’s decision to work with a ten-year-old actress re-injects this heroine’s timeless cause and ideology with a modernity that highlights both the tragic female condition and the incredible fervour, strength and freedom women show when shackled by societies and archaic virile orders that belittle and alienate them.
Former philosophy teacher and film author Bruno Dumont’s oeuvre is particularly idiosyncratic. In interviews he often indicates he’s looking for a mystical experience, something beyond intellect and reason. And yet, Ronald Rovers writes in a Filmkrant profile, all his films are kind of clumsy in a way, as if they were drawn from the same North-French clay as his characters. As an example he mentions Céline's suicide action in HADEWIJCH (2009). In the film’s epilogue she simply reappears as if nothing happened. That direct, frontal style - emphasising actions, not words - is exactly why Dumont succeeds in creating mystical experiences. Crucial are also close-ups of guilty, defenseless and searching faces in his films. Why? Rovers explains that Dumont's characters are all waiting for redemption, but fundamentally choose the wrong person as their savior. This creates tension between that unfulfillable desire and their devotion, ecstasy and madness. Dumont knows that and keeps his camera focused on their expressionless faces.
Click here for a video-essay on Dumont’s faces.