Joan of Arc in Film
2. Critically analyse the way an historical protagonist (Joan of Arc) has been portrayed in 2 or more films from different time periods. To what extent is the portrayal of the protagonists’ gender similar or different in each case and to what extent has this depiction been influenced by the political/philosophical thinking of the period in which it was made OR by its national origin?
Film as a relatively recent medium provides a useful insight into understanding the differing political and social situations of various societies and communities of people at different periods in our history. Nowhere is this more evident than in films that attempt to reconstruct significant events and people from our history, and it is often the case that films that are even as little as two decades apart may represent their common historical event or figure in an entirely different light. This has largely been influenced by developments in historiography; such as revisionist history, history from below, and critical history, which have all come forth as society and historians begin to challenge the ‘empirical’ evidence of the past. Additionally, developments in politics and society have also had an enormous impact on changing representations of events and historical figures in different periods of recent history. These include but are not limited to a changing understanding of political correctness, race, gender roles and equality, conflict and the relationships between states, as well as moral and ethical values.
For the purpose of this essay, I will be attempting to critically analyze how one important historical figure, Joan of Arc, has been represented in film from two different periods in the last century. The two films I have chosen in order to achieve such an analysis are Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), and Luc Besson’s The Messenger: the Story of Joan of Arc (1999), or simply Jeanne D’Arc as it is known in France. Firstly, in order to
Film as a relatively recent medium provides a useful insight into understanding the differing political and social situations of various societies and communities of people at different periods in our history. Nowhere is this more evident than in films that attempt to reconstruct significant events and people from our history, and it is often the case that films that are even as little as two decades apart may represent their common historical event or figure in an entirely different light. This has largely been influenced by developments in historiography; such as revisionist history, history from below, and critical history, which have all come forth as society and historians begin to challenge the ‘empirical’ evidence of the past. Additionally, developments in politics and society have also had an enormous impact on changing representations of events and historical figures in different periods of recent history. These include but are not limited to a changing understanding of political correctness, race, gender roles and equality, conflict and the relationships between states, as well as moral and ethical values.
For the purpose of this essay, I will be attempting to critically analyze how one important historical figure, Joan of Arc, has been represented in film from two different periods in the last century. The two films I have chosen in order to achieve such an analysis are Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), and Luc Besson’s The Messenger: the Story of Joan of Arc (1999), or simply Jeanne D’Arc as it is known in France. Firstly, in order to
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