rpvanderlinden "Joan of Arc" feels rather vacant. Even the restored version, with all its lavish production values, gorgeous sets, vivid Technicolor, huge cast of stars in cameo roles and Ingrid Bergman's face it doesn't amount to much. It sort of washed over me.We meet Joan running through the fields, then being chided for not paying attention to the everyday things that matter. She knows she's destined for something big. She's pious. She prays. One day she gets the call. Off she goes to lead the king's army against the enemy. There's something about her that humbles and draws respect from all who meet her. She's a medieval celeb. Soon this humble farm girl is seen in a series of tableaux. Look! There's Joan discussing strategy with the generals. There's Joan in a Mastercard front-of-the-line spot for the king's coronation. There's Joan leading the army. There's Joan, in her shiny, brand new designer armour, waving her sword and calling the troops to battle. There's Joan receiving a blue ribbon in the ratatouille cook-off (just kidding).Director Victor Fleming takes full advantage of Ingrid Bergman's incandescent features, and she's not bad, but she didn't really convince me. There's little depth to her character. There's nothing in the film that shows Joan as so dangerous as to provoke the Church to prosecute and execute her. "I see angels". So what? Enough already with the piety and artificially imposed charisma. Let's have a closer look at the Joan who claims to have visions and a hot-line to God. Jose Ferrer bites vigorously into his role as the wimpy king of France, but it's a one-note characterization. I lost track of the horde of other characters. Many of the scenes seem perfunctory, and Joan's burning at the stake didn't move me.The production design and costumes are absolutely stunning, and a lot of research seems to have gone into creating authenticity to a period of European history that's not often carefully depicted in movies. Many of the tableaux remind me of paintings I've seen of the Middle Ages (another film that takes a similar approach to its visuals is Laurence Olivier's marvellous "Henry V"). Recently I watched Otto Preminger's "Saint Joan", filmed in black-and-white. That film, essentially, tells the same story, but it was convincing, and really grabbed me.

rose-james608 Ingrid Bergman does the role of Joan of Arc an excellent degree of justice. While most of the other actors (minus José Ferrer) are clearly just playing their parts, Bergman makes the film so genuine and so real. I enjoyed the dialogue, if nothing else, because it worked for the movie, it worked for her role, and it worked to keep the film on track.What I did not like were the battle scenes. I kept in mind that colored films were still in the "Analog" stage of development, and nothing was/is ever perfect, but the skirmishes were often choppy, random, skipping from soldier to dead soldier back to Joan (Bergman). In most cases, it appeared to be a(n) disorganized mess of guys just trying, and failing, to clear a wall.An interesting note I found while watching this was how they maintained the focus on Joan, by "illuminating" her armor to contrast her against the environment. To me, this was a very creative way of not only making her stand out, but adding to her Angelic-like character as "God's messenger".I'm very pleased to say the film was most enjoyable, all negativity aside. I thank Turner Classic Movies for providing the full-length feature, and I would most certainly be looking for it again.

[email protected] I don't find this an especially stirring version of the story of Joan of Arc. Shaw's play, seen on stage, is much more vivid (though talky, as are most Shavian works). But it has a young Ingrid Bergman as Joan and if you need to be reminded of how beautiful she was and what screen presence she possessed, you owe it to yourself to see this 1948 film. Jose Ferrer also appears in the movie in one of his early roles and numerous other name actors of the period are distributed among the characters. Considering that the script is by Maxwell Anderson, the dialog is surprising flat and uninspiring. Victor Fleming is the director but it is not clear to me what exactly he brought to the party. There's a fair amount of spectacle but it is vintage spectacle and in no way comparable to what could be (and is) done today, even in movies for TV. Ingrid Bergman's persona is all that makes this film believable in any way. She almost carries it the distance. I once saw the Shaw play with a 19-year-old college kid as Saint Joan. That girl, like Bergman, made Saint Joan believable because she inhabited the role. Jean Seberg, a few years later, was Saint Joan in a film based on Shaw's play and she just didn't have what it takes. But Bergman did.

crow-blush Good editing always improves the rough vision of the accumulated daily takes. Chopping the heart out of a completed film, however, should simply be a hanging offense.The original 1948 Joan of Arc at 145 minutes is magnificent. The 100-minute version that's been foisted off on the USA buying public is below mediocre. Key scenes were deleted wholesale with no regard to continuity or development.The only enjoyment from the severely and amateurishly edited version is to see Ingrid Bergman do what she does best. But only if you have seen the original version can this chopped and cropped semi-copy have any marginal value.Check the specifications on any version you are tempted to buy. If the running time is 100 minutes, don't bother. Some European versions are longer at 125 and 133 minutes. Hopefully, someone will offer this masterpiece in a full 145 minute DVD version