This is the final, climactic scene of this mini series where Joan Of Arc is burned at the stake.
In his music briefing at the production’s outset, the producer requested that leitmotifs* be created and employed throughout the film and that these leitmotifs be incorporated and superimposed with each other in the final scene. Composing this way is a bit like playing chess on multiple levels simultaneously. For those taking in the entire film, experiencing these themes in superimposition during this finale makes for a very powerful and satisfying conclusion to this extraordinary story.
Rarely does a film composer have an opportunity to score for a large scale climactic scene of this length, a scene with an almost complete absence of dialogue after the first minute of this nine minute cue.
Charlotte Church supplies the beautiful soprano voice of Joan, Christian Duguay’s direction and shooting provided a huge canvas with which to work.
For more on the back story of the music scoring for this movie, please read my summary diary of the project (originally published by Playback Magazine) on the www.ashermusic.ca website.
*leitmotifs are themes/sounds that have specific associations with characters and events.