Joan the Maid

Joan the Maid (French: Jeanne la pucelle) is a 1994 French historical film directed by Jacques Rivette. Chronicling the life of Joan of Arc from the French perspective, it was released in two parts: Joan the Maid, Part 1: The Battles (French: Les Batailles) and Joan the Maid, Part 2: The Prisons (French: Les Prisons).

Joan the Maid
Jeanne la pucelle
Directed by	Jacques Rivette
Written by	Jacques Rivette (part 1 only) Pascal Bonitzer Christine Laurent
Produced by	Martine Marignac Maurice Tinchant
Starring	Sandrine Bonnaire
Cinematography	William Lubtchansky
Edited by	Nicole Lubtchansky
Music by	Jordi Savall
Production companies	France 3 Cinéma La Sept Cinéma
Distributed by	BAC Films
Release dates	9 February 1994 (1994-02-09) (Part 1) 10 February 1994 (1994-02-10) (Part 2)
Running time	336 minutes
Country	France
Languages	French English Latin

Cast

• Sandrine Bonnaire as Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc)
• Édith Scob as Jeanne de Béthune
• Tatiana Moukhine as Isabelle Romée
• Jean-Marie Richier as Durand Laxart (Joan's uncle)
• Baptiste Roussillon as Baudricourt
• Jean-Luc Petit as Henri Le Royer
• Bernadette Giraud as Catherine Le Royer
• Jean-Claude Jay as Jacques Alain
• Olivier Cruveiller as Jean de Metz
• Benjamin Rataud as Bertrand de Poulengy
• André Marcon as Charles, Dauphin of France
• Jean-Louis Richard as La Trémoille
• Marcel Bozonnet as Regnault de Chartres
• Patrick Le Mauff as Jean Bâtard d'Orléans
• Didier Sauvegrain as Raoul de Gaucourt
• Jean-Pierre Lorit as Jean d'Alençon
• Bruno Wolkowitch as Gilles de Laval
• Hélène de Fougerolles as Jeanne de Bar

Releases

In the original version, Jeanne la pucelle I: Les batailles ran for 160 minutes, and Jeanne la pucelle II: Les prisons for 176 minutes, totalling 336 minutes.

American DVD releases removed significant portions; Joan the Maid: The Battles ran for 110 minutes, and Joan the Maid: The Prisons for 116 minutes, totalling 226 minutes.

A 4K restoration^[1] was released in August 2019,^[2] with a Blu-ray seeing release in December 2019.^[3]

Reception

Glenn Kenny calls the film "essential cinema", in which the director (Rivette) "... applies a cinematic style that’s both impassioned and elegantly simple and rational to Joan’s inner and outer life, using long takes and brilliantly considered camera movements throughout."^[4]