Everything about Joan of Arc is different.
For starters, she’s a ten-year-old in charge of the French army. Oh, and she hears voices from heaven. Get the picture?
Some do. Others don’t care for unwavering piety. When Joan acts against the King, she’s put on trial. Its back-and-forth is engrossing: Each party tries to do right by the others, but whoever loses will lose big.
And yet, this movie is as much class clown as Sunday school. It pokes fun at the pomp and formality of the military, the church—prayer itself—in ways so strange and obvious that you’re transported out of the story, wondering if the movie itself is the ridiculous thing.
Mania aside, this is a serious story of human character. Scenes pop with rich colors and varied staging.