La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc

Feb. 4, 2022 | JOHN PAPETTI

The story is about a devoted Catholic, Jeanne (Renée Jeanne Falconetti) was forced to give a sworn oath in front of the church. She claimed to be sent by God to save France and that she has the blessing of Saint Michael. In order to devote her life to her faith, she dresses like a man, until God’s deeds are done. The Church grills her for questioning and then determines that it was blasphemy. They lead her to prison to punish her ways. Even so, she has a strong sense in her faith, as she sees a crossbar from the window, and interprets it as the sign of the cross. The council of judges use different tactics to make her confess, including forging the King’s signature, using a rotating spike wheel, and even pushing for execution. They believe she is a part of the devil's “gang”, and decide to abuse her. In spite of this, she chooses her own faith until the very end. Once she was threatened by being burned at the stake, she signs her confession. However, the judges still give her punishment for life, by being kept in jail. Once there, she realized that she was not worthy of God’s command, and she calls off the confession. She was burned alive at the stake, for publicly humiliating the church. The citizens noticed this and fight the church, as they believe they have willingly murdered a saint. The movie ends with a riot breaking out between the Church’s militia and the people of France.

Jeanne trusted her moral decisions because of her faith and religion. She embodies Divine Authority Theory since she believes that her will is with God. Throughout the movie, she always mentions that she is a daughter of God, and she has seen Saint Michael with her own eyes. Saint Michael is a good holy being who fights evil, and this is also Jeanne’s thought pattern when approaching the church, as she was going to aid the church to save France. The church judges on the other hand were not leaving decisions up to God, they were making their own. Assuming that they did, would God approve of not allowing Jeanne to practice the same religion the judges do? Would God approve of using scare tactics and manipulation to force a confession? Removing religion from the movie, the story is about confronting authority. During the time of the film, the church was very powerful in society, and sometimes more powerful than the political leaders of the countries. For a woman who dresses like a man and claims they are a messenger to God, this angers the church and they want to silence Jeanne. For Jeanne, her direct appeal to Divine Authority was her strength and her downfall. She was very devoted to her faith, but in the end, the church did not accept it, they took her life and her reputation.