The Trial of Joan of Arc

Original title: Procès de Jeanne d’Arc

Directors: Bresson, Robert

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

France 1962 | Black & white | 65 mins

Avaliable on: DCP, DVD

‘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