Joan the Maid

Streaming video - 1994

In the first installment of his ambitious yet restrained two-part study, director and co-screenwriter Rivette surveys the revelatory period where Joan met with royalty, joined the army, and led the French into battle against the English. As Joan, Sandrine Bonnaire gets at the reality behind the legend, showing the matter-of-fact courage of a teenage girl. The second part of Rivette’s diptych, brought leading lady Bonnaire a **César Award** nomination for her powerful performance, as she plays out windows in the final two years of Joan’s life, from the battlefield victory, to prison life, to the stake.