France, 1425. In the midst of the Hundred Years’ War, 8-year-old Jeannette looks after her sheep in the small village of Domremy. One day, she tells a friend how she cannot bear to see the suffering caused by the English. Madame Gervaise, a nun, tries to reason with the young girl, but Jeannette is ready to take up arms for the salvation of souls and the liberation of the Kingdom of France. Carried by her faith, she will become Joan of Arc. “With his tenth feature, Bruno Dumont radically delves into Joan’s childhood with a category-defying period-cum-techno-head-banging musical, derived from two works by French writer Charles Péguy.” —Toronto International Film Festival. In French with English subtitles.
Filmography: Slack Bay (2016), Li’l Quinquin (2014), Camille Claudel 1915 (2013), Hadewijch (2009), Flanders (2006), Twentynine Palms (2003), Humanité (1999), The Life of Jesus (1997)
Reviews: 4:3, Cinema Scope, MUBI Notebook, Criterion Daily, Hollywood Reporter, The Film Stage
Interviews: Screen Daily, MUBI Notebook
Genres: Drama
Other Films by Bruno Dumont
La Vie de Jesus (The Life of Jesus)
Since his 1997 debut with The Life of Jesus, Bruno Dumont has become one of European cinema’s most unsettling and provocative auteurs, but his films also display a profound empathy for their characters, which are often played by non-actors culled from Dumont’s home region in the north of France. Dumont burst onto the scene with this film, …