Joan of Arc (1948)
An American epic historical drama starring Ingrid Bergman as Joan of Arc, a French peasant girl who claims divine visions and leads France against the English during the Hundred Years’ War. After her victories, she is captured, betrayed, and put on trial for heresy. The film follows her courage, faith, and eventual martyrdom.
Narrative Score
Full Plot & Ending Explained
Intro
In fifteenth-century France, the young peasant Joan of Arc hears heavenly voices that command her to save her country and help crown Charles VII as king, and she leaves her home in Domrémy to begin that mission.
Turning Point 1
Joan first presents herself to the local authorities and to Robert de Baudricourt, who dismisses her claims at first, but her conviction and the urgency of France’s defeat eventually push her toward the royal court at Chinon.
Turning Point 2
At Chinon, Charles VII tests Joan by disguising himself among his courtiers, but Joan identifies him anyway, speaks to him with force and certainty, and persuades him that her visions are real and that he should trust her.
Turning Point 3
Charles grants Joan support, and she cuts her hair, dresses in men’s armor, and goes to the French army, where the captains hesitate to obey her but the soldiers are stirred by her faith and agree to follow her lead.
Turning Point 4
Joan leads the French to Orléans, where the English have the city in a death grip, and she inspires a direct assault that breaks through English resistance and turns her into a national figure.
Turning Point 5
After the victory at Orléans, Joan drives the French campaign forward with further triumphs, culminating in the liberation of more territory and the momentum needed for Charles’s coronation, while her growing stature begins to make her politically inconvenient.
Turning Point 6
When Joan’s army is ready to attack Paris, Charles VII abandons her by making a deal with the English, dismissing the army, and allowing Joan to be isolated and captured by her enemies.
Turning Point 7
The English and their allies imprison Joan and stage a political trial against her, with Pierre Cauchon presiding as a corrupt and hostile judge who pressures and tortures her in an effort to break her faith and force a conviction.
Ending
Joan refuses to recant, is condemned as a heretic, and is burned at the stake; the film closes by framing her death as martyrdom and sainthood rather than defeat.
Cross-checked against Wikipedia and other public film references. View on Letterboxd ↗ The Narrative Score above is an experimental 5-axis rating, not a critic score.