Joan the Maid Part I: The Battles

Sandrine Bonnaire, one of France's greatest actresses, gives the performance of a lifetime in Rivette's adaptation of the Joan of Arc story. Rivette creates what may be the definitive version of this oft-told tale, skipping the trial that dominated the filmic interpretations of Carl Dreyer and Robert Bresson and focusing on the actual flesh-and-blood Joan.

See Part II: The Prisons on Friday, April 27 at 7 PM. Conceived as two feature films that could be seen separately, the epic is "involving, thought-provoking and, as Jeanne mounts the stake, profoundly moving" (Time Out Film Guide). We'll be showing Rivette's original cut, nearly two hours longer and vastly richer than the butchered version available on DVD in the States. (Part I: 160 mins., 35 mm; Part II: 176 mins., 35mm)

Special thanks to David Schwartz and Livia Bloom from the Museum of the Moving Image and Francois Leloup-Collet from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy for the coordination of this long overdue tour.