Jeanne sous la pluie (Joan in the Rain), dir. Julie Meitz, 2012, France, 6 min., in French with English subtitles and English with French subtitles [click “Read more” below]
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| Loreta Velázquez/Harry Buford (fictional re-creation) |
Rebel is the true story of a woman, Loreta Janeta Velázquez, born to a prominent family in Cuba, who moves to the southern United States just in time for the Civil War. Not content to sit on the sidelines while her husband went to war, Loreta created Lieutenant Harry T. Buford, a male soldier who fought in the battles of Bull Run, Ball’s Bluff, Fort Donelson, and Shiloh, and also worked as a spy behind enemy lines, although she may have been a double- or even triple agent. She wrote a memoir after the war, although Confederate General Jubal Early denounced it as utter fiction, so it was not until many decades later that many of her claims were corroborated. The true story of Loreta/Harry is fascinating, but the documentary not quite as much so. In particular, many of the dramatic recreations run quite slow. Highly Recommended for Civil War history buffs and aficionados of real-life 19th-century drag kings, but a more equivocal Recommended for general audiences.
Joan in the Rain (Jeanne sous la pluie) is a video collage of clips of portrayals of Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) from a variety of films spanning several decades. The presence of the word “experimental” in the description on the festival website is a warning to Frameline veterans that this film is worth missing, or at least worth not sweating punctuality if you want to see the main feature in the program. Not hideous, but more of a “meh.” Not recommended.
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| Jeanne sous l'ennui |
Rebel • IMDb page • Facebook page •
Joan/Jeanne • IMDb page • Official website •
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