Jeanne au bûcher

The story's protagonist is a pure and extremely spiritual being, an almost passive participant in a journey of reunion with God through mystical asceticism.

In the final hours of her martyrdom, Joan of Arc (Ingrid Bergman) relives, in the company of Saint Dominic (Tullio Carminati), her victorious actions and her trial, in which she is symbolically judged by a brute jury presided over by Judge pig Procus (Giacinto Prandelli). After the trial, she continues her spiritual journey with the cathartic figure of her confessor, Saint Dominic, discreet yet sympathetic to the maiden's pain, her final torment, and her final ascension to heaven.

Director Roberto Rossellini maintains his neorealist style even in this partially theatrical work, thanks to a highly authentic and poetic portrayal; the screenplay is very bold, attempting to blend opera, theater, and experimental cinema, marking the distance between his genre and Hollywood; as in all of the pair's films, Bergman's intense performance is the fulcrum around which the film is structured.

Best moments include the animalistic depiction of a farcical trial. A must-see for lovers of cinematic lyricism and aficionados of spiritual films.

This is generally regarded as a 'minor' work by Rossellini, and in a certain sense one can see why its appeal is limited: a filmed document of an Italian production of a French opera; a stagy Catholic confection with a largely static Bergman at its centre. Anyone expecting something to fit alongside the versions of the Jeanne d'Arc narrative by Dreyer (1928) or Bresson (1962) is likely to be disappointed.

However, there is a strong case to be made for 'Giovannia d'Arco al rogo' as a fascinating and overlooked work. Regardless of what one feels about Honegger's somewhat erratic music (which I felt was not without its charm), the film inadvertently raises various questions about cinematic form. It may be a recording of a theatrical staging, but the act of filming transforms the experience of watching such a staging. There is a dialectical tension between the obvious artifice of opera and the documentary reality of the camera. We see Joan of Arc beholding various theatrical tableaux - her trial depicted as an animal fable; an absurd game between monarchs; some village revellers - but at the same time we also see Ingrid Bergman-as-Joan of Arc, and moreover Ingrid Bergman-as-object of Rossellini's camera eye. I was reminded of some of the opulent pageants of Peter Greenaway ('Prospero's Books', 'The Baby of Macon'), who approached some of these paradoxes in a much more self-conscious manner some 40 years on. To make matters even more Brechtian, the reel in the screening I saw was preceded by what appeared to be some promo/actuality footage, featuring the clapping opera house audience and a smiling Bergman in her dressing room; presumably this juxtaposition was not intended by Rossellini himself, but it adds something to the overall experience.

Unfortunately, this film seems destined to be restricted to retrospectives and the occasional archival screening. In the print I saw (apparently an 80s preservation), the colours had faded to a ghostly pallor, presumably a result of Rossellini's use of volatile Eastmancolor stock. Not an obviously bankable choice for DVD distributors, then. But anyone who has an interest in the philosophy of film in relation to theatre, or mixed modes of artistic representation, should watch it if given the opportunity.

People are generally familiar with Bergman's Technicolor version of the life of the Maid of Orleans. But far fewer are aware that she and her husband Robert Rossellini later filmed Arthur Honneger's oratorio (SLIGHT SPOILER COMING:) depicting her death; also in colour.

The result is one of those films that while you're watching it doesn't seem to begin to work. But lingers hauntingly in the memory.

That's certainly not the best Ingrid-Rossellini film. Sounds interesting at the beginning, but is more a recorded "opera" than a movie. Ingrid doesn't speak a word for many, many minutes, and these minutes are full of singing (not the kind I like, badly). Despite the one hour and twenty minutes, seems much more longer than actually is. But Ingrid is the most beautiful and remarkable Joan of Arc I've ever saw. It's a rare picture, I saw it on the cinema, in a cultural release. It was an opportunity that I could never lost. Not a film that everybody will love, I recommend just for Ingrid's fans, like me. My evaluation: 7 out of 10.