Release Date: November 12, 1999
Starring: Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway, Dustin Hoffman, Pascal Greggory, Vincent Cassel
Directed by: Luc Besson
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Entertainment
MPAA Rating: R (strong graphic battles, a rape, some language)
When making a historically-based movie, the filmmakers in question become amateur historians (although, to be sure, they employ scores of professional historians to support their inauspicious efforts). They must decide, especially in retelling a controversial historical event -- such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy Jr. or the impeachment of Richard M. Nixon -- which parts of the story bear retelling and which do not. Most importantly, though, they must take a point of view and they must present their bias, for a historical film without a bias is like a term paper with a weak thesis. The filmmaker's personal outlook provides the framework and tone for the rest of the movie; it is the kiln in which the movie's iron will be tempered.
In The Messenger, director Luc Besson takes a pro-France point of view; or perhaps more accurately, he emulates Mel Gibson, director of Braveheart, and takes an anti-English point of view. His camera begins recording events in the middle of the Hundred Years' War, the conflict between England and France which began in 1337 over, among other things, the line of succession to the vacant French throne. In 1430, Joan of Arc (Milla Jovovich), a young, pious peasant girl, requests an audience with Charles VII (John Malkovich), then heir of France. Encouraged by his stepmother, Yolande of Aragon (Faye Dunaway), the Dauphin agrees to sponsor and raise an army for Joan to lead; having gained this, she quickly wrests the city of Orleans out from under English occupation.
This victory is often marked as the turning point of the war for the French, but it was the beginning of the end for Joan. Shortly after taking Orleans, Charles VII is crowned King of France, mostly due to his support of the wildly popular Joan of Arc, and having gained the crown, he withdraws the reinforcements he had promised her. Joan is left defenseless on the field of battle and is soon captured by the English and their French allies in Burgundy. Her pleas for help are ignored by her own government, and she is burned at the stake as a heretic on May 30, 1431.
Joan's unflattering demise is no surprise to even the most uninformed viewer, for although her story is already familiar to most audience members as basic history, the dramatic structure of the narrative also hints at a betrayal of the movie's heroine. What is surprising is director Besson's ending note, which points out that Joan was canonized and sanctified nearly five hundred years after her death. This is surprising because Mr. Besson had heretofore taken a largely secular stance on the progression of events: Joan acted because she believed voices of saints (or, as the movie illustrates, the voice of God) called her to free France, but the director would have us believe she was a delusional, heretical subversive.
To this end, the script (penned by Besson and Andrew Birkin) includes a series of scenes near the end of the film in which Joan argues with her conscience (played by Dustin Hoffman) over the validity and the necessity of her actions. Besson clearly sides with the conscience, a devil's advocate, by encouraging Hoffman to play the character with an attitude of superiority. Jovovich's performance, thoroughly weak, is extremely fragile in these last scenes, and in that Besson's point of view becomes even more evident.
Although Besson's approach in this regard may be uncontroversial -- the more popular view is that Joan did hear voices from on high and that her status as a French patriot and Catholic saint is well-deserved -- its success is a matter of uncertain conclusions. What is certain is that Besson does not have a knack for medieval period drama, and with that, for creating classic battle sequences of the Middle Ages. His photography undermines this -- he manages to succeed in turning the cramped sets of French castles into extravagant locations, but he fails to convey any of that grandiose atmosphere in the war. Armies attack in front of wildly gyrating cameras that hardly offer the same view that we had in Braveheart.
And for all he tries, Besson cannot get his film to get out from under that weight. The plot structure is almost identical to that of Braveheart, although it moves much more slowly. The cast, too, wants to embrace the same spirit of comradeship found in Mr. Gibson's movie, but it is ill-developed and ill-lead. Finally, the overabundance of historical detail emphasizes the fact that there is little drama in Joan's story, whereas the lack of historical detail in Braveheart introduces a much more seductive fantasy element.
The Messenger is hardly the grand and exciting motion picture it should have been, which is quite disappointing considering that it had all the elements for a fantastic retelling of true events. It's certainly recommendable to history buffs -- the period recreation is exquisite -- but for those seeking a medieval action piece, it's a better move to rent Braveheart.
all contents © 1999 Craig Roush