The Trial of Joan of Arc

Procès de Jeanne d’Arc

Bresson’s minimalist account of Joan’s suffering and demise is based on the official transcript of her trial.

  • Director

    Robert Bresson

  • With

    Florence Delay, Jean-Claude Fourneau, Marc Jacquier, Roger Honorat

  • France 1962. 65min

  • Digital 4K

  • Certificate

    PG

  • English subtitles

‘Saints’ abound in Bresson’s work, and here, working from the official transcript of Joan’s trial, he shoots her ordeal with a serene simplicity that reveals her vulnerability and her resilient faith, and reminds us of the physicality of her predicament: the final images are a terrifying reminder of her suffering. Stylistically and structurally, this is surely Bresson’s most minimalist work.