PATRICE LEDOUX

JOAN OF ARC: THE MESSENGER (2000)
Starring Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway, Dustin Hoffman, Timothy West and Vincent Cassell. Directed by Luc Besson.

The year is 1429. France is in political and religious turmoil as members of the royal family battle for rule. But one peasant girl from a remote village gave her country the miracle it was looking for - Joan of Arc, a young woman who would inspire and lead her countrymen until her execution at the age of nineteen. Raised in a religious family, Joan witnessed her sister's rape and death at the hands of an invading army. Years later, as the same war raged on, Joan stood before her king with a message she claimed came from God: give her an army, and in God's name she would reclaim his diminished kingdom. But was the message real, or the delusions of a girl whose life had been shattered?

REVIEWS Joan of Arc: The Messenger - A saint or insane?

THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997)
Starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich, Chris Tucker, Luke Perry, Brion James, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Lee Evans and Charlie Creed-Miles. Directed by Luc Besson.

In the future, a cab driver unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep Evil and Mr Zorg at bay.

REVIEWS The Fifth Element - 20th anniversary