Film

Joan of Arc

Name: Joan of Arc
Genre: Drama, History
Released: 1948
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Francis L. Sullivan, J. Carrol Naish, Ward Bond, Shepperd Strudwick

This is Ingrid Bergman's passion project: a big, reverent Technicolor account of Joan's rise and trial, built from a stage production she'd toured for years. It's earnest, expensively mounted, and unhurried — more devotional pageant and courtroom drama than war epic. Watch it for Bergman's conviction, not for grit, ambiguity, or battlefield spectacle.

TMDb rating

6.2

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A Man for All Seasons1966

Another quiet conscience versus a ruthless state — Thomas More's refusal to bend echoes Joan's own, and the trial scenes carry the same weight of one person against an entire apparatus of power.

But Talky and stately; if you want spectacle rather than moral argument, it can feel like a filmed play.

Becket1964

Two men, one throne, one altar — Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole spar over where loyalty to God ends and loyalty to king begins, the same fault line that destroys Joan.

But Dense with dialogue and court politics; patience for period intrigue is required.

Braveheart1995

A national uprising led by a charismatic outsider, crushed brutally by an occupying power — the shape of Joan's story, but with grimier violence and rowdier, more populist swagger.

But Historically loose and unapologetically melodramatic; if inaccuracy bothers you, look elsewhere.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Passion of Joan of Arc1928

Same woman, same trial, opposite method: Dreyer strips away armor and grandeur entirely, filming Falconetti's face in unbearable close-up. It's the counter-argument to every Technicolor version that followed, including this one.

Widely considered one of the greatest performances ever filmed — a face doing what dialogue can't, in a movie that treats faith as raw, physical suffering rather than pageantry.

But Silent, intense, and emotionally punishing; there's no comfort of spectacle to hide behind.

The Song of Bernadette1943no page yet

Another young woman's visions collide with skeptical authorities in this earnest prestige biopic — same devotional tone, same faith in faith itself, made just five years before Bergman's film.

But Slow and reverent; its piety can feel dated to modern eyes.

El Cid1961no page yet

A sweeping medieval epic with the scale Joan of Arc reaches for — armor, banners, siege, and a legendary figure who becomes more myth than man by the end.

But Stiff dialogue and old-fashioned pacing; it's spectacle first, character study a distant second.

The Lion in Winter1968

Medieval court politics done as blistering, witty drama — less pious than Joan of Arc, but sharing its fascination with how faith, family, and power get weaponized against each other.

But Almost entirely dialogue-driven; no battles, no spectacle, just rooms full of people cutting each other apart.

Kingdom of Heaven2005

A crusader-era epic wrestling with faith used to justify war and cruelty, made with the scale and conviction that made Joan of Arc such an expensive undertaking in its day.

But Long, and its moral even-handedness can feel like fence-sitting if you want a clearer hero.

Anastasia1956no page yet

Bergman again, this time playing a woman whose identity and truth are put on trial by powerful, doubting men — a lighter echo of the courtroom scenes here.

But It's a mystery-romance, not a war epic; don't expect anything like the same seriousness.

Spartacus1960

Another martyr-leader who rallies the oppressed against an empire, filmed with the same old-Hollywood grandeur and conviction that a single person's cause can outlast their death.

But Three hours of Roman politics and battle; the pacing tests modern attention spans.

The Crucible1996

Swap France for colonial Salem and voices from God for accusations of witchcraft, and you get the same machine: a young woman's claims of divine contact collide with a court that needs her guilty.

A courtroom hysteria thriller about mass accusation and religious panic, with Winona Ryder and Daniel Day-Lewis burning through Arthur Miller's dialogue at full heat.

But Loud, feverish, and theatrical where Joan of Arc is stately — it trades reverence for outright dread.

Into Great Silence2005

No plot, no trial, no war — just monks listening for God in silence, year after year. It's the quiet, unglamorous reality behind the voices Joan claimed to hear, stripped of all drama.

A nearly wordless documentary about Carthusian monks, patient and hypnotic, that makes devotion feel like a physical practice rather than a story.

But Almost three hours with barely any dialogue; it demands a stillness most films never ask for.