The Trial of Joan of Arc · reception & legacy
1963 · Robert Bresson
How The Trial of Joan of Arc has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
Booed by parts of the Cannes crowd in 1962 yet handed the Special Jury Prize the same week, it was long filed under 'minor Bresson' — now it's a favourite rediscovery, with fans arguing his most austere hour is also one of his most piercing.
What's debated
The eternal cage match: Bresson's cool, transcript-bound Joan versus Dreyer's tear-streaked one — cinephiles still pick sides, especially since Bresson himself openly disdained Dreyer's version.
Its footprint
It lives in permanent double-bill with Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc — the two films are cinema's great compare-and-contrast essay prompt, two opposite answers to filming the same historical trial record.
Where it stands
A deep cut even among Bresson devotees — at barely an hour long, it's the 'you haven't really done Bresson until you've done this one' pick.