The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, directed by Luc Besson is a historical film which reveals the conscious and subconscious struggles of Joan, a famous French war heroine and religious martyr of the fifteenth century. Character portrayal plays an enormous part in this film due to the fact that much of Joan of Arc's experiences were private, as revealed through her numerous visions. While I believe director Luc Besson had the mindset to portray Joan of Arc as patriotic and devout to her religion, the portrayal of Joan of Arc was more warrior like and hallucinogenic rather than patriotic and devout. In the beginning of the movie there is a scene were the young Joan of Arc finds a sword, and goes into an elaborate "vision" of soldiers riding on horses, and wolves roaming around in the forest. The lack of differentiation between Joan's visions and what was actually going on around her makes it seem as though she is having tactile hallucinations rather than visions from God. One also has to take into account that the director clearly depicts Joan of Arc being raised during war time, and because of this, what she sees in her "vision" can most easily be attributed to what she saw growing up daily. The war like portrayal of Joan of Arc comes in when the audience first sees Joan as an adult. In this scene, the king received her letter and it is revealed that she is writing to him in regards to gaining an army of men for herself so she can go into battle. Because of the earlier portrayal of Joan and her visions, this scene came across as Joan wanting to push her own agenda, rather than fulfill her visions purpose. The portrayal of Joan of Arc leads into the relevant themes throughout the movie. Joan's sanity is a continuing theme throughout the film, most obviously seen when she has her visions. Watching the scenes in modern day, it is obvious that her sanity would be questioned because it is uncommon to see someone have visions in the name of God, and so persistently try to achieve her goal. However, at the time that Joan lived, her voices and visions would not have been doubted. During that time period, society heavily revolved around the church and in the case of Joan, few would have questioned her intentions. Another very present theme in the film is feminism. This theme becomes clearly present after Joan witnesses the rape of her sister. After this event, she states that her crusade is to be "a fight against male domination and the abuse of women". The last and most important theme seen in this film is personal persecution. Joan of Arc was persecuted by the church she adored so much. Joan of Arc endured through excommunication, and later on execution all for simply following what she thought was right. Plagued with persecution, and being on trial, it is once again seen that Joan of Arc's sanity is not intact. Director Luc Besson portrays Joan of Arc as crumbling mentally, when she is on trial. Tormented by her jailers, and threatened with torture, her mental state depletes quickly. In an unclear mental state Joan signs the recantation, but later realizes the mistake she has made. All in all, the portrayal of Joan of Arc as being more warrior like and hallucinogenic rather than patriotic and devout plays an important part in the themes seen throughout the film. The question of sanity is a big part in this film, along with feminist ideas, and personal persecution. Reflecting on the movie as a whole, the conscious and subconscious struggle that Joan of Arc went through is clearly expressed by the director. While not portrayed as the strong minded, French heroine of the fifteenth century, Luc Besson clearly illustrates Joan's struggle, and clearly has three present themes throughout the film.