Jeanne D'Arc in the cinema: Which of the actresses best got used to the image of the Maid of Orleans from 1899 to the present day

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

This extraordinary personality, who has become a national symbol of France and a Catholic saint, has always attracted the attention of not only historians, but also writers, artists and filmmakers, she has become the heroine of many works of art. The exact number of film adaptations of this plot has not been established - it is known that there were more than 30 of them, but some of them have not survived - this was back in the era of silent cinema, starting in 1899. Who of the actresses created the most organic and convincing image of Joan of Arc on screens - it's up to you to judge.

This plot interested directors literally from the first days of cinema. Back in 1899, Georges Méliès directed the 10-minute silent film Jeanne d'Arc, which premiered in the United States in November 1900. It was made in color for the centenary of the film. The main role was played by the actress Jeanne D'Alsi. Despite the limited timing, the director tried to fit in the plot all the main events in the life of the Maid of Orleans - from the appearance of the saints to her, predicting the salvation of France from the English conquerors, to captivity and death at the stake. Fragile and feminine, Jeanne D'Arc in this film did not look like a warrior, but a meek saint in white robes.

In 1916, the American silent film "Woman, Jeanne" was shot, in which the main role was played by the opera diva Geraldine Farrar. For 5 years of work in silent films, she played about a dozen roles, and the best of them is called Jeanne D'Arc.

There were several other adaptations of this plot in silent film, one of which became a classic of world cinema - it was the 80-minute silent film "The Passion of Joan of Arc" in 1928. It was shot by Danish director Karl Theodor Dreyer, and the theatrical actress Rene played the main role -Zhanna Falconetti. When the director first saw her in one of the performances, he said: "". This film is about the trial and the last days of Jeanne D'Arc. The director completely abandoned makeup and shot the film as a "dialogue" of close-ups of Jeanne and her inquisitors. According to many critics, in terms of its depth and psychologism, Dreyer's work is still one of the best film adaptations. The actress was so immersed in this image that it led her to severe nervous exhaustion, and after that she stopped acting in films. The fate of the film was mysterious - at first the film was lost during a fire, and the director had to re-create the film from materials previously rejected by him, and in 1981 an almost complete original version of the film was found in a psychiatric clinic in Oslo.

The famous Swedish and American actress Ingrid Bergman has appeared in the character of Jeanne D'Arc several times on the stage and twice in the cinema. The 1948 film Jeanne D'Arc by Victor Fleming was based on a Broadway production starring Bergman, about which critics wrote: "". "Jeanne D'Arc" was called the main cinema event of 1949 all over the world, although many critics wrote that the Maid of Orleans performed by the pretty and healthy Ingrid Bergman is devoid of character and individuality. It was Gone With the Wind director Victor Fleming's last film and Bergman's last Hollywood role before she left for Europe. There she married director Roberto Rossellini, who in 1954 made another film with her participation - "Jeanne D'Arc at the stake".

In Soviet cinema, this image was also not ignored. True, Gleb Panfilov's film "Beginning" was not about Zhanna D'Ark, but about the girl Pasha Stroganova, who played in a provincial amateur theater and once got the role of the Maid of Orleans in a historical drama. Inna Churikova created one of the most striking images of Zhanna D'Ark. It is interesting that initially the director wanted to make a movie exclusively about the French national heroine, but his idea did not find approval from the management: "".

In 1994, the French director Jacques Rivette shot an epic six-hour canvas from 2 parts "Jeanne the Maiden", where he tried to recreate not the image of Saint Jeanne, but the image of Jeanne the human, with all fears, doubts and misunderstanding of the true nature of her strength … The main role was played by the famous French actress Sandrine Bonner. In her performance, the Maid of Orleans is primarily a simple peasant woman, an earthly girl in men's military armor.

In 1999, two films about Jeanne D'Arc were released at once - Canadian and French. In the first of them - the mini-series "Jeanne D'Arc" - the main role was played by 17-year-old Lily Sobieski. The young actress was highly praised by critics and audiences, and in 2000 she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Film on TV.

One of the most famous film adaptations in the world is the film by Luc Besson "The Envoy: The Story of Jeanne d'Arc", released in the same 1999. The main role in it was played by the director's wife Mila Jovovich, who personified his ideas about a fragile but courageous girl who became national heroine of France. It was probably the most expensive project about the Maid of Orleans - the budget of the film was $ 85 million, but it did not pay for itself even at the worldwide box office. In the performance of Mila Jovovich, Jeanne D'Arc looked nervous, self-confident, exalted and even crazy. "" - explained the actress.

Finally, one of the latest screen adaptations was the 2011 film “Jeanne's Silence” by the French director Philippe Ramos, which tells about the last stage of Jeanne D'Arc's life. There are no spectacular large-scale battles in this film, but thanks to the excellent performance of Clemence Poesy, he earned recognition among the audience.

History has received no fewer adaptations. Cleopatra: Which actress became the most beautiful queen of Egypt.