The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) on Netflix
R19992h 38mAdventureBiographyDrama
Joan, a religious girl in Domrémy, has a vision at thirteen. Certain God means her to drive the English from France, she asks the Dauphin Charles for an army.
- Netflix2.4/5
- IMDb6.4/1073,697 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes31%
Trailer
Plot summary
Joan grows up in Domrémy during the Hundred Years' War, while English knights and soldiers move through the country, and she is deeply religious, going to confession several times a day. At thirteen, a first vision comes to her, along with a sword she finds in a field. Her village is burning when she comes back, and her sister Catherine hides her from the attackers; distant relatives take her in. Years later, in 1428, she is certain her mission is to rid France of the English, so she travels to meet Charles, the Dauphin. At Chinon she describes her visions to him and to Yolande of Aragon. In his desperate military situation he welcomes her help and lets her prove her divine mission.
Cast
- Edwin Appsas Bishop
- David Beggas Nobleman - Rouen's Castle
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Eight weeks before filming, Luc Besson withdrew his backing, and with it his financial backers' support, from Kathryn Bigelow's Joan of Arc film after learning his then-wife Milla Jovovich would not be cast as Joan; Bigelow threatened legal action for breach of contract and "stealing her research", and the matter was settled out of court.
- A stuntman died in an accident during the first weeks of filming, after which Luc Besson was said to have become completely uncommunicative, appearing on set only to shout orders at people.
- The king's coronation was staged at Sées Cathedral, where a realistic medieval village was recreated on the parvis.
SPOILER
The scene in which Joan witnesses her sister's murder and rape by English soldiers is entirely a fictional construction: her family fled their village before it was attacked, and the Burgundians, not the English, attacked it.- Many lines during the trial scenes were taken verbatim from the transcript of Joan of Arc's real trial.
