Joan of Arc (1900)

Joan of Arc Review

Joan of Arc is a 1900 silent short film directed by George Melies. It is one of his weaker efforts.

This was a rare period piece for Melies, a filmmaker usually better known for his fantasy vehicles. Thus, he deserves respect for diversifying his portfolio. However, the execution overall was rather problematic and this is far from his best movies. The story is your standard historical drama about this iconic woman, but if you aren’t well versed in history and in this particular historical figure, you are bound to be lost here as the intertitles are non-existent.

The best sequences all came toward the end. Joan’s burning on the stakes was very well executed. The dream sequence that came before it was fantastic and so was the final heaven scene. Both of these moments worked best as they signified Melies’ ease at creating fantastical and imaginative scenes. But the rest of the movie paled in comparison as it was much less interesting and repetitious as it only has a couple of scenes in her life and those weren’t executed in the most thrilling manner. Technically though, the movie is a marvel. The costumes are colorful and quite accomplished, the sets are gorgeous and the color-tinting was beautifully realized throughout, making for quite a colorful short.

Joan of Arc is technically accomplished and benefiting from a powerful ending, but this was mostly an uninteresting, flawed film that was not among Melies’ best works.

My Rating – 3.6