We’re Finally Getting a Joan of Arc Biopic from the Iconic Moulin Rouge Director
John Everett Millais
Maybe it’s all the far-right homophobia in the air, but pop culture has developed something of a medieval streak of late — and Baz Luhrmann has never been more eager to hop on a trend.
The Moulin Rouge director has confirmed that his next film will be an epic Joan of Arc biopic, tentatively titled Jehanne or Jehanne d’Arc, as Deadline first reported this week. The film’s casting call describes it as the “ultimate teenage girl coming of age story, set in the Hundred Years War” — during which the real Joan attempted to lead French soldiers to victory over the English, only to be burned at the stake when she was 19 for the crimes of hearing “voices from God” and wearing men’s clothing.
Luhrmann himself declined to comment on the news, according to Deadline, but Jehanne may not have been his first choice. The director was previously attached to an adaptation of The Master and Margarita, a Soviet-era Russian satirical novel, but Luhrmann is no longer part of the project as of May. (He could also use a win, as many critics panned his previous Elvis biopic starring Tom Hanks and Austin Butler, in part due to its flattening of history and sometimes “flagrantly racist” portrayals of Black musicians.)
From Jason Mraz to Cardi B, these stars belong to the “B” in LGBTQ\+.
We were already in something of a Joan-y mood ourselves after watching the VMAs earlier this month, where Chappell Roan walked the red carpet in a look her makeup artist described as “[i]f Joan of Arc was a glamour girl.” (The delicious twist came when Chappell Joan took the stage and fired a flaming crossbow bolt at a cathedral behind her, figuratively burning down patriarchy rather than the reverse.) Roan may not have the acting experience for the role Luhrmann is likely looking for, but there’s another ascendant Art Girl who could — Jenna Ortega. In an interview with Letterboxd earlier this month, the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star gushed about 1928’s The Passion of Joan of Arc, describing star Renée Falconetti’s performance as “absolutely insane” and revealing that Joan would be “a dream character for me.”
In the category of “historical figures who were way too queer for their time,” Joan of Arc is perhaps one of the most well-known and beloved: a teen girl who dared to do things gatekept by men for centuries, like “claiming to be a Christian prophet” and “wearing pants.” In fact, for Joan, hearing angelic voices and crossdressing were deeply connected — as she is said to have told her English jailors who refused to let her attend Mass, “the dress of those who receive the Sacrament can have no importance.” If Luhrmann’s previous work is anything to go by, his Jehanne would be nothing short of a fever dream, but we’re still holding out for John Waters to make Joan a drag king.
Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here.
Originally Appeared on them.
