Fridays, 15:15 to 16:45
We'll see Joan taken to her cell and tormented by the guards. Loyseleur will seem to be her ally.
Since you all understand the general situation and the characters well now, we will go a bit more quickly.
Thank you for the great discussions we had last week!
all the best,
kevin
The movie we are to use in class is a silent film from 1928 directed by the Carl Dreyer The trial and execution of Joan of Arc is faithfully depicted. The film can certainly be enjoyed on its own as a dramatic retelling of an historic event. But once you have some idea of the background of Joan of Arc and the Hundred Years' War it becomes even more amazing.
Two books by Regine Pernoud are especially good. If you read one of these books you will learn a lot about Joan and her times,. But the books are history books... I will bring them to the first class so you can see what they are like.
Other readings that you may enjoy are:
1) Mark Twain's historical romance - this was his favorite of all his books, and is available in the public domain.
2) The transcript of the interrogations and trials of Joan of Arc - these are the original source material for much of the dialogue in the movie. Again, they are in the public domain. I will have information on them for you soon.
3) Joan of Arc in her own words - A triumph of editing. The author took representative letters, transcripts and other source material and allows Joan to tell her story herself.
Joan's story is dramatic and lends itself well to being told on film; Luc Besson's recent film is a dramatic and informative period piece that concentrates on the life and military campaigns Joan was involved in. The film we will watch has a much narrower focus: the trial and execution of Joan of Arc.
Although TPJA is a silent movie (now with a musical score composed especially for the movie in 1980) and minimalist in its presentation it has a very modern feel. You will likely not even notice the absence of spoken dialog. While we will not see life as it was lived, love and fought in mediaeval times, as Besson has presented triumphantly, we will see the character of Joan and her accusers come to life.
Mme. Regine Pernoud, tells Joan's story by presenting and commenting on primary sources such as the questions and answers as recorded from interrogations held during the 14 months Joan was imprisoned; accounts from witnesses, generally people from her village; various government records, and the transcripts of her trials.
Mme. Pernoud took care to arrange these contemporary sources and to explain them to a modern audience. You may well like reading her history books! In any event, I hope that you will research Joan yourself and present what you find to the class.
Dreyer's film takes a few liberties, but with artistic integrity. The questions and answers that make up almost the entire dialogue are from the prison interrogations and the trials, but are presented as if they entirely took place during her trials. At the end of the movie a riot is shown, but no riot actually took place in reaction to the execution. But the presentation certainly presents the feelings of the French supporters of Joan and her King, and the eventual victory of Charles VI.
I am not a student of history at all, but am glad to help you put the story of Joan of Arc into perspective.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019254/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0780022343/
http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/27/joanofarc.html
http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue08/reviews/joanofarc/pic1.htm
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1431joantrial.html
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08409c.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08409c.htm
http://www.stjoan-center.com/Trials/sec01.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc
http://www.ordotempli.org/jean_d'arc_trial_transcript.htm
http://members.aol.com/hywwebsite/private/joanofarc_manuscripts.html