My fascination with the story of Joan of Arc (1412-1431) shows no sign of abating. When I finished my 2004 Ph.D. dissertation about her and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Keeping Her in Her Place: the Perpetual Imprisonment of Joan of Arc, I thought I was done. Then, in 2008, I returned to the subject in order to prepare the dissertation’s publication as Portrayals of Joan of Arc in Film.
Now, as 2009 draws to a close, I’m back to Joan. I’ve transferred six movie reviews from another site to this one. And I’m preparing another book, this time one not intended for an academic audience.
A Joan for All Seasons is a viewer’s guide to Joan of Arc movies, chiefly the six major Joan movies made during the 20th century by Cecil B. DeMille, Theodore Dreyer, Victor Fleming, Otto Preminger, Christian Duguay and Luc Besson.
The guide is arranged in two parts. Part One summarizes the facts about the historical woman known as Joan of Arc. Part Two describes six major films made in 1917, 1928, 1948, 1957 and 1999. The effect is to show that the Joan of the films owes more to the periods in which the movies were made than to the historical reality. Into every generation a Joan is born!
For brief reviews of the six films of my studies, see this new page: Joan of Arc Movies.