This picture l watched between 1976-1977 for first time on television in 2004 l purchase the DVD with a complete restoration but keep in box until now where l watch this super production with great sets along the movie the history settled in early 15th century with little Joan hearing some voices to led the french army against England in 100 years's war,she have to set free Orleans that hold by English army,after the victory she was betrayed by the king who accept money to stop the war,so Joan in captured by John Count of Luxembourg and sold to English for 10.000 pounds to be on trial and burned of fire!!!The casting is powerful apart Ingrid Bergman as Joan José Ferrer as the Dauphin,Cecil Kellaway as inquisitor on fantastic acting and thousand of famous actors including Hurd Hatfield!!!
... View MoreBathed in colorful cinematography, pretty little Ingrid Bergman (as Jeanne d'Arc aka "Joan of Arc") looks divine in a 15th century French church. Her farming family frets about Ms. Bergman's preoccupation with prayer. However, Bergman has a more direct line to God than anyone knows. Inspired by her savior Jesus Christ, Bergman decides to go to fight the British occupiers of France. She also sets out to ensure God's chosen man is crowned King. People tell Bergman it is impossible, but she insists, "I must save France!" To enlist, Bergman disguises herself as a young lad. With a busty figure, make-up and cute new French haircut, the actress simply does not look like a boyish teenager. The miscasting could have been successfully addressed by sticking with the original stage version's "play within a play" format. It was about a troupe of actors dramatizing the heroine's life. The stage format allows more leeway in casting...The last film directed by Victor Fleming, "Joan of Arc" was elevated far above its worth by "Academy Awards" voters. It won three Oscars and was nominated for five more, including a notable one for supporting actor Jose Ferrer (as the Dauphin aka Charles) in his film debut. Unsatisfied by all the attention, producer Walter Wanger refused to accept his special award because the film failed to be nominated in the "Best Picture" category. "Joan of Arc" has been restored to its original epic length, which turns out to be a mixed blessing.**** Joan of Arc (11/11/48) Victor Fleming ~ Ingrid Bergman, Jose Ferrer, Francis L. Sullivan, J. Carrol Naish
... View MoreIn the Fifteenth Century, France is a defeated and ruined nation after the One Hundred Years War against England. The fourteen years old farm girl Joan of Arc (Ingrid Bergman) claims to hear voices from Heaven asking her to lead God's Army against Orleans and crowning the weak Dauphin Charles VII (José Ferrer) as King of France. Joan gathers the people with her faith, forms an army and conquerors Orleans. When her army is ready to attack Paris, the corrupt Charles sells his country to England and dismiss the army. Joan is arrested, sold to the Burgundians England and submitted to a shameful political trial in Rouen castle, when in 1931 she is sentenced to burn at stake.The story of Joan D'Arc is one of the most beautiful I have seen in the cinema, and Victor Fleming's version is no exception. I have seen Carl Dryer's and Robert Bresson's (the best), Luc Besson's (the weakest actually a means to promote his girlfriend Mila Jovovich), Christian Duguay's (a great television version with Leelee Sobieski in the lead role) and all of them a good movies because the story of this martyr and saint "Maid of Lorraine" is actually awesome and doomed to please the audiences. Her history shows faith, betrayal and corruption in a period of treachery and domination of the powerful Catholic Church in Europe. Ingrid Bergman is miscast in the role of a fourteen to nineteen years old girl that can be confused with a man, but she has a great and shining performance and deserved her nomination to the Oscar. The debut of José Ferrer could not be better, performing a shallow and corrupt king. The Oscar winning cinematography is very beautiful for a 1948 movie. The DVD released in Brazil is completely restored but unfortunately there is a bug in chapter 6, stopping the movie. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "Joana D'Arc" ("Joan of Arc")
... View MoreA very poor film translation of a stage play--rather than being tailored to the movie medium, this is very stagy, overly talky. The dialogue is arty and artificial. Everyone is obviously acting, giving a performance, though Bergman is radiant and her performance is passionate and sincere.All of the exteriors (outdoor shots) which feature close ups of the lead actors are obviously shot on a sound stage. Some beautiful outdoor footage is used occasionally for establishing shots or transitions between scenes, but Bergman never leaves the soundstage. On the positive side, the film is beautifully photographed, many individual shots are works of art, masterfully lit and composed. However, the camera moves only when necessary to follow the actors, the shots are static, adding to the staginess of the production. Which reminds me of CB DeMille; you could get a good idea of this film by saying it's like a DeMille film, only with more high art pretensions and less spectacle (no cast of thousands here).The most outstanding aspect of 'Joan of Arc' is the music, it's prominently featured, good and loud, and it deserves to be--it's gorgeous. The DVD has no extras at all, though the image and sound are excellent--a very good restoration job. A commentary track would have been very welcome; my guess is this was a challenging production, possibly with a long production period (three cinematographers are listed). It was a commercial failure, at least in part because of public condemnation of Bergman's personal life. I believe director Victor Flemming died soon after production. Lots of meat here for an interesting commentary or two.
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