Close Menu

    ‘Jeannette: The Childhood Of Joan Of Arc’ Blu-Ray Review – Rocking Out For The Lord

    A child with long hair in a gray tunic stands outdoors with arms outstretched, appearing to shout or sing. Trees and a blue sky are in the background.

    France, 1425. In the midst of the Hundred Years’ War, the young Jeannette, at the still tender age of 8, looks after her sheep in the small village of Domremy. One day, she tells her friend Hauviette how she cannot bear to see the suffering caused by the English. Madame Gervaise, a nun, tries to reason with the young girl, but Jeannette is ready to take up arms for the salvation of souls and the liberation of the Kingdom of France. Carried by her faith, she will become Joan of Arc. Jennette is the best historical, electroclash musical you’ll ever see!

    For thoughts on Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required:

    Video Quality

    KimStim brings Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc to Blu-Ray with a strong 1080p video presentation in 1.55:1. The image is clean with the natural color palette saturating the screen, especially when Jeannette is trekking through vegetation. This allows for splashes of colors within the environment which makes for a sumptuous image. The production design is minimal, to say the least, but key structures, fabrics of clothing, and nature itself provide crystal clear textural details. The presentation provides a significant amount of depth on display, especially with the prevalence of exterior footage. The black levels are appropriately deep with no discernible digital noise. The flesh tones are natural with a grand amount of detail present in close-ups. This Blu-Ray is a lovely representation of this movie. 

    Audio Quality

    This Blu-Ray comes with a worthy DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track in the original French that captures this soundscape as intended. Music is the driving force of the film, and it always comes through as clearly as the live captures allow without being clipped by any competing sounds. The singing and the instrumentation fill the speakers in a well-balanced way that envelops you in a way that transports you to this time. Dialogue rarely struggles during the course of non-singing exchanges. 

    Compared to many musicals, this is a much more reserved affair than you might be expecting outside of the songs. Engagement in the low end of the track is mostly contained to the music. This is a stereo track so the experience is not completely immersive, but it works well within its creative confines. The audio track is a solid presentation for the feature. Optional English subtitles are provided.

    A woman dressed in a white nun's habit and a girl in a simple tunic stand on a sandy area with sheep grazing in the background. Special Features

    • Film Critic Olivier Père Interviews Filmmaker Bruno Dumont: A 17-minute interview with the director in which he discusses his desire to make this film, what music can express that other avenues cannot, what he took from the Joan of Arc story, filming direct sound, working with the performers, and more. 
    • Deleted Scenes: Two unused scenes totaling nearly 11 minutes are provided here that are interesting but didn’t make the final cut. 
    • Theatrical Trailer: The two-and-a-half-minute trailer is provided. 

     

    Final Thoughts

    Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc is far from your average historical drama, or even your average musical. It is an ambitious swing for the fences from Bruno Dumont, and it works a surprising amount of the time. When Jeannette starts the film rocking out for the Lord, you appreciate the absurd juxtaposition of this young child struggling with her humanity and the metal music that expresses her emotions. The film loses a bit of its magic once the time jump happens and we get a new performer taking over the role. This next chapter is good enough, but it all feels a bit familiar and ultimately too long to keep you engaged without distraction. It may not be the best version of itself, but it is still quite a cinematic treat. KimStim has provided a Blu-Ray disc that sports a perfectly good A/V presentation and a couple of brief supplements. If you are at least mildly intrigued by the synopsis, give this one a shot. Recommended 

    Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

    Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

    Disclaimer: KimStim has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.

    Subscribe
    Notify of
    guest
    1 Comment
    Oldest
    Newest Most Voted
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    CGesange

    This film was just bizarre, and mostly fictional. The director’s comments also make it clear that his entire spin on Joan of Arc is contradicted by numerous eyewitness accounts, since he claimed that she was “against the Church” which is just based on the propaganda of her enemies contained in the (falsified) trial transcript which dozens of the tribunal members later admitted had been manipulated to make her look more guilty. Manyof the characters are needlessly fictionalized despite the surprising wealth of information we have about her actual childhood: there was no “Madame Gervaise”, and Hauviette was substantially younger than Joan.

    0
    Reply

    Hot Topics