Procès de Jeanne d'Arc (1962)
Directed by Robert Bresson

Film Review

This depiction of the Joan of Arc story is typical of Robert Bresson's austere style of cinema, stripping the story to its bare bones and concentrating far more on the nature of the human ordeal than historical detail. In stark contrast to Dreyer's La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928), the film is far more restrained in its use of cinematographic technique to paint Joan as a victim.  If anything, Bresson paints a distinctly atypical view of Joan, not a Saint or a martyr, but a fairly ordinary peasant girl who is out of her depth.

As in all of his films, Bresson attempts to go beyond the surface and reveal the soul of his subject, his purpose here being to show how it was, from an inner perspective, that Joan was driven to recant her faith and thereby seal her fate.  Whilst the film is far less moving than Dreyer's masterpiece, it is an effective work which says a great deal about human nature, particularly the resilience of the human spirit.  The script is based on a transcript of notes taken from the actual trial of Joan of Arc, something which gives the film a curious timeless quality.  The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1962.

Film Synopsis

Rouen, 1431.  After falling into the hands of her English enemies, Jeanne, the young peasant girl who became a figurehead of the French army during the Hundred Years War, is placed on trial for heresy.  The trial is led by the Bishop Cauchon, who is prepared to use all of the means at his disposal, including torture, to establish the truth.  The fierce questioning and abuse to which she is subjected does nothing to shake Jeanne's faith, who maintains that it was God's will that she should lead the French armies against the English.  Physically weakened by the seemingly unending trial, Jeanne's resistance falters for a moment, and in that moment she recants her faith.  It is the admission the court has been waiting for, playing into the hands of the English who seek to discredit Jeanne and thereby strengthen the grip of the English crown on France.  Jeanne's confession results in her being found guilty of witchcraft, and now she must suffer a witch's fate - to be burnt at the stake in the centre of Rouen...