Product Details

• Actors: David Janssen
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• VHS Release Date: April 27, 1999
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767014499
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #260,572 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Joan of Arc's treatment in A&E's Biography, like that of the others in the "Legendary Women" series, is true to the formula that works so well: lush photography of medieval and later historical images, intelligent and provocative interviews with leading scholars, and just a touch of dramatization to enliven the film and make it accessible to both the adult history buff and the junior high school student.

Jeanne d'Arc, known in English as Joan, lived just before the dawn of the Renaissance in France. England and France had been engaged in the Hundred Years War--a war the English were slowly winning. Crown Prince Charles, whose father had abdicated the throne in favor of the British monarch, was living a secluded life at Chinon in the Loire Valley, far away from the travails of occupied Paris. Visited one day by the peasant girl Joan--who was being guided by angelic voices toward the restoration of France--Charles was somehow convinced to let the 19-year-old girl in men's clothing lead an army in his name. Much to everyone's surprise, the girl won dozens of battles and soon made it possible for Charles to be crowned king of France at Reims. Later caught by the English, Joan was held as a prisoner suspected of witchcraft for a year before she was finally put to death at the stake.

Joan's legend lived on, much as the angels' voices told her it would, but she was not beatified by the Roman Catholic Church until 1920. This thoroughly researched, well-written, and visually exciting historical Biography documents not only her life per se, but also includes input from various scholars and writers about the nature of Joan's supernatural experience, from Freudian to Christian analysis. --Erik J. Macki

Product Description

She has been called a saint and a sorceress, a warrior and a martyr, an advisor to kings and a channel of God. JOAN OF ARC: VIRGIN WARRIOR chronicles the life of the woman who, as a backwater peasant girl of 17, donned a suit of armor and rode off to war. She claimed she had been sent by God and promised to restore her king to his rightful throne and save France, the land of her birth. In just two years, all of the girl’s extraordinary promises had come true. She was killed, having been burned at the stake by those who feared her power. JOAN OF ARC: VIRGIN WARRIOR presents a mass of contradictions. Whether she was a national hero, an instrument of God, or simply a troubled but forceful young woman, the Maid of Orleans ignited the spirit of an entire people, creating a legend that still inspires us today. Interviewed for the program are Laura Harrington, the playwright of Joan of Arc; Pamela Marcantel, the author of Army of Angels; Charles Wood, Ph.D. of Dartmouth College; and Bonnie Wheeler, Ph.D. of Southern Methodist University and the historical consultant for the program.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Formulaic "A&E Biography"; not as good as earlier version & misleading, June 23, 2005

By 

R.L. Holly "piper909" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Biography - Joan of Arc: Virgin Warrior (A&E DVD Archives) (DVD)

I was disappointed when I viewed this disc. I'd been expecting a nice DVD copy of the A&E Biography episode on Joan of Arc aired in the mid-1990s (my TV taping is from 1994 and is fading rapidly). That was a British-produced film that A&E obviously bought the rights to, slapped their usual intro over, and broadcast under their "Biography" aegis. It was better assembled, more wide-ranging in its scope, more honest, and vastly more engrossing than this tedious new program (copyright 1997). "Virgin Warrior" falls into the usual contemporary American documentary formula of being static and lifeless and more than a little dishonest. It relies heavily on panning over medieval (or later) illustrations -- often having little to do with this period or the events described by the narrator -- a few cheap and poorly photographed reenactors, the usual academic talking heads in full pontificating mode (although to her credit Dr. Bonnie Wheeler does come across as informed and enthusiastic), and a lot of generic travelogue footage taken of entirely different locations than what is ostensibly being discussed! I have been to many of the places in France associated with Joan's career and I can tell when what I'm being shown is the genuine location and when it's not, and in this program, we are very rarely shown the actual sites Joan visited.

There are numerous errors of fact in the narrative as well, plus some puzzling mispronunciation of French names and places. But the main sin of this documentary, in my view, is the crime of taking one of the most lively women in history and making her story dull as dishwater. I don't think the viewer will gain much of a picture of this remarkable French saint from this program, and I recommend seeking out the earlier Biography film (if it is available anywhere), a different documentary altogether, or even watching some of the better and more truthful movies made about the Maid of Orleans: Ingrid Bergman's newly restored "Joan of Arc" and Sandrine Bonnaire's "Jeanne la Pucelle" are the most valuable in this respect, and even Leelee Sobieski's "Joan of Arc" (full length version) has its moments.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well-made documentary on the remarkable Lady of Orleans, June 26, 2004

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Biography - Joan of Arc [VHS] (VHS Tape)

As far as I'm concerned, Joan of Arc is the most fascinating woman to ever live - or I should say young lady, since - in a travesty of justice and a striking show of cowardice on the part of the man she basically crowned the king of a newly restored France two years earlier - she was burned at the stake as a heretic at the age of 19. Twenty-four years later, her conviction was overturned by the Church, then in 1920 she was officially canonized; for centuries now, she has been looked upon as a national hero among the French people and a source of inspiration to innumerable admirers. Ironically, the farce of her trial provides us with much historical documentation we would not otherwise have, and the manner in which she handled herself during her days of captivity served only to reinforce and perpetuate the fascination and admiration she continues to draw worldwide. As usual, A&E Biography produced an impressive documentary of the young girl's remarkable life, telling her story against a backdrop of mediaeval works of art and alongside the insightful observations of several Joan of Arc scholars. The true source of her visions and extraordinary abilities will never be known, nor will the debate of those issues ever end. Heretic or martyr? Witch or wise beyond her years? Sent by God or by Satan? These questions and others like them will keep Joan of Arc in the public heart and mind for as long as men and women exist on this planet.

Joan of Arc's story is almost impossible to believe. Keep in mind that France was facing an ultimate defeat at the hands of the English as The Hundred Years' War drew to a close. Joan grew up in northern France, in one of only a few villages still faithful to the French king (it should come as no surprise, since we are talking about France here, that large numbers of the population of northern France were collaborating with the enemy at this time). Here was Joan of Arc, a teenaged female peasant, illiterate and ignorant of military strategy, leaving home at the age of 17 in response to angelic voices she had first heard four years earlier, traveling across two hundred miles of enemy territory to reach the Dauphin, and within two years saving her nation from complete military defeat and restoring the crown price of France to the throne. This was the early 15th century, mind you - women, especially young girls, would never dream of cutting their hair, dressing in man's clothing and armor, and riding off to war with an army of men, and no one really cared what a peasant thought in the first place. Somehow, though, Joan of Arc convinced the future king to give her an army, and she led her troops in battle dressed in the full armor of a king's soldier. She claimed her authority came from God Himself, that He communicated with her in mysterious voices and instructed her to do all these impossible things - and she delivered what she promised. Can you imagine what the English troops based in the fortress of Orleans thought when they received an ultimatum from this seventeen-year-old girl to withdraw their forces? Many of them did not live to regret their dismissal of her demands.

Having fulfilled her promises to save the nation and restore the French monarchy, Joan's young life quickly took a series of dramatically tragic turns. Certain elements of the king's court stirred up trouble for her out of jealousy, she herself became more demanding and forceful, and eventually her military campaigns began to meet with disaster rather than glorious victory over the odds. Many began to surmise that she had fallen out of favor with the Deity - or if luck and determination rather than heavenly assistance had led to her early successes. Attempts to retake Paris by force, a move the king was always reluctant to follow, were failures, and on the third such mission Joan of Arc was captured. The video gives the impression she was captured by the English, but actually she was captured by Burgundian collaborators and then sold to their English allies. She languished in prison for more than a year, defended herself nobly and admirably at her "trial," and faced the most awful of deaths with courage and unnatural calm. She did, after a solid year of imprisonment and torture, sign a confession to the effect that her voices never came from God and that she was, in essence, a heretic, but she soon recanted these claims. There is no written record of what took place during the three days between her "confession" and her disavowal of that confession and swift execution. Almost surely, as the video suggests, she was raped during that time, a horrible enough event in its own right, but sickeningly appalling for someone who had dedicated her mind and body to the work of God and drew sustenance from her cherished virginity.

The video offers up a number of strong arguments for the truth of Joan of Arc's amazing claims, but it is also careful to allow for a number of other interpretations, including the kind of psychobabble some academics delight in employing today. This is a highly favorable yet very well-balanced look at a life of captivating mystery and vast historical significance.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Jeanne d'Arc video., April 22, 2010

By 

Janey - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Biography - Joan of Arc: Virgin Warrior (A&E DVD Archives) (DVD)

I purchased this video for my French 3 class to go along with the Joan of Arc readings. I really enjoyed the video and the students appreciated as well. For my high school students, this video was very informative and interesting. From my point of view, this video was just that, and was perfect in lenth of time, which was around 50 minutes. (Can't remember exactly). I read the reviews on "Fat Pup Films" I was happy with the results, so I bought this video from them. Without paying extra postage to expedite my package, the delivery was quick (within days), inexpensive, and reliable. I would definitely purchase from "Fat Pup Films" again.