'Joan of Arc' falls short

Joan of Arc has always been one of the more interesting and controversial saints in Church history:

* A strong person who stood up for her beliefs, even to martyrdom, she is admired by women as a model of feminine perseverance and courage. But as a military leader who chose war over peace, she is looked on askance by pacifists in the Church.

* Hailed by French Catholics as the savior of their nation, she was convicted of heresy by English Catholics and their Anglophile friends in France.

* Although she was cleared by the Church of heresy within a few years of her death, it took that same Church almost another four centuries to canonize her.

Looks right

What's very right about "Joan of Arc" are the sets and costumes. Filmed in the Czech Republic, the movie has the look of the times: The chain mail is battered, the castles are cold, the peasant towns are muddy.

And the cast looks right, too. Peter O'Toole, as the bishop who tries Joan, has a skull-face that seems to have come off a gargoyle. As a hired knight experienced in warfare, Peter Strauss looks worn out from fighting too many battles and seeing too many corpses. Playing a woman on the verge of death, Shirley MacLaine is wan and wizened. As a nun who supports Joan, Olympia Dukakis is a medieval Mother Teresa.

Flaws

All that being said, there are elements at the heart of "Joan of Arc" that make it not very moving. First of all, it's confusing. Unless you have recently studied the history and geography of France, you're going to be lost amid the discussions of Burgundy, Loire, Lorraine, Domremy and Orleans. Why the English rule France who have a king of their own remains a mystery. Without that information, viewers will spend a lot of time trying to figure out where's where and who's who.

Then there is the question of motivation. The movie does not shy from Joan's voices, but it mixes in theories of legend and fate that dilute the spiritual foundation of her life. An example occurs right at the movie's beginning when Joan at the stake is visually connected to Christ -- and then superimposed words bring in Merlin the Magician! Toward the end of the four hours, Joan seems to be saying that no one is responsible for their actions; rather, they are puppets in God's hands.

Not up to it

And while she is excellent in portraying Joan at prayer, she cannot achieve the anguished distress and final apotheosis required at Joan's martyrdom (which, by the way, the movie rushes through).

That a major network would devote four hours of primetime television to a saint merits credit and hosannas. You might want to watch the film just to build its ratings and encourage similar efforts. But, while it's a worthy effort, "Joan of Arc" is not an Arc of triumph.

(Two websites offer information about the film and the background of the real-life characters: cbs.com and cbsjoanofarc.com.)

(05-13-99) [[In-content Ad]]