Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc

Jeannette, l'enfance de Jeanne d'Arc

France, 2017

Musical, History, Biography

Synopsis

Based on The Mystery of the Charity of Jeanne d’Arc, a poem by 20th-century poet and essayist Charles Péguy capturing Joan of Arc’s humble upbringing and the visions that sparked her decision to join the struggle against the English in the latter stages of the Hundred Years’ War.

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Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc Directed by Bruno Dumont

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Awards & Festivals

Cannes Film Festival

2017 | Directors' Fortnight

Locarno International Film Festival

2018 | Histoire(s) du cinéma

Toronto International Film Festival

2017

International Film Festival Rotterdam

2018

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Cast & Crew

Articles from the Notebook

Cannes 2017. Singing Soul Rebel—Bruno Dumont’s “Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc”

The most joyful discovery in Cannes is an electro-musical dance film on the adolescent life of Joan of Arc.

Critics reviews

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“Jeannette” throws the modern back at the medieval, making no distinction between religious ecstasy and that experienced in certain contemporary contexts of music and ritual. It’s a provocative proposition that yields a film of genuine spiritual dimension.

Glenn Kenny

April 12, 2018

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Discounting the sophistication of the natural lighting and minimalist camerawork, would anyone coming into the film without some foreknowledge of Dumont be able to tell that this is all intentional anti-comedy-type artistic strategy and not, say, some churchy production outfit’s memorably wrongheaded attempt at modernizing the life of a Catholic saint “for the kids”?

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

April 10, 2018

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Such peculiarities in performance are perhaps symptomatic of a director who casts nonprofessionals as a rule, and his films are indeed charged by the dissonances between his precisely calibrated mise-en-scène and the less stable ground of his actors. But in Jeannette, a sense of the raw and inexpert has never been more pronounced, both in front of and behind the camera.

Carson Lund

April 10, 2018

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What are people saying?

El Biffo's rating of the film Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
El Biffo

I'm a huge Joan of Arc fan, so I am prejudiced. I go to all her movies! I like Dumont too, and though the avant-grade formality of this will obviously be indigestible to some viewers, I find it more nutritious than Dumont's latest Quinquin sequel, a made-for-French-TV action comedy.
January 24, 2019 19:12
- 3
- 0
Jason's rating of the film Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
Jason

I would say (and am not the first to have said) that probably literally the only film JEANNETTE remotely resembles is Straub and Huillet's film version of Schoenbergs' MOSES AND ARON (perhaps w/ a touch of Monty Python). The amateur and rough-hewn become staunch values of considerable gravity. It is about the service faith does us in transforming anguish into determination and fortitude. A beehive of sweet delirium.
January 24, 2019 19:09
- 5
- 0
msmichel's rating of the film Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
msmichel

TIFF '17 Dumont's latest flight into whimsy reps his most experimental effort to date with its mix of historical film with a sung metal inspired soundtrack. Amusing and interesting at first the conceit quickly wears out its welcome and despite a strong visual sense the film becomes grating and a chore to get through. Bring back the pathos Monsieur Dumont.
January 24, 2019 18:50
- 2
- 0
Lynch/Fellini's rating of the film Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
Lynch/Fellini

Somewhere Luis Buñuel is proud- Dumont has made an adsurdist parody of both the Joan of Arc story and the musical genre!
November 26, 2018 05:37
- 1
- 0
Henri de Corinth's rating of the film Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
Henri de Corinth

TIFF17. A doom metal minstrel show. This would have warmed the heart of Pasolini or Ken Russell or Straub and Huillet.
December 23, 2018 23:22
- 4
- 0
VENIMOS LOS JODIMOS Y NOS FUIMOS's rating of the film Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
VENIMOS LOS JODIMOS Y NOS FUIMOS

Una constante dentro de la irregular filmografia de Bruno Dumont es la bipolaridad del realizador: en ocasiones, tenemos a un Dumont maduro, contemplativo, transgresor y sublime; en otras, saca su lado "chavorruco", aburrido, mamón y provocador a lo pendejo. En esta inútil revisión en clave de ascético musical sobre la vida de Juana de Arco, lamentablemente se impusó lo segundo. Hasta Luc Besson lo hizo mejor.
November 10, 2017 22:36
- 0
- 0
petit astronaute's rating of the film Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
petit astronaute

(0.1 | 2K) nul. zero. merdre. Ce n'est pas un musical, c'est de la torture. Après 5 minutes on a déjà tout vu, parce que c'est exactement le même pendant 1h45. C'est incroyable la Quinzaine. Sur 8 films, il avait un et demi intéressant et tout le reste bien médiocre. Qu'est-ce que c'est un comité de sélection, des philistins armées des manuels qui décrivent la dernière mode ou les consignes du marché ou producteurs ?
June 12, 2017 12:03
- 0
- 0
Robert John Torres's rating of the film Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
Robert John Torres

A live-sung rock musical about the childhood of Joan of Arc that exalts itself upward toward questions of faith in the time of war. Simultaneously beguiling and rapturous in its absolute commitment to its own idiosyncrasies. Minimalist is the most confident fashion. Pastoral landscapes serve as a painterly backdrop for a self-aware, rough-around-the-edges performance style. Extra points for all the head banging!!!
May 15, 2018 23:32
- 1
- 0