Movie Description
The Passion of Joan of Arc (French: La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc) is a 1928 silent French film based on the actual record of the trial of Joan of Arc. The film was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and stars Renee Jeanne Falconetti as Joan. It is widely regarded as a landmark of cinema, especially for its production, Dreyer's direction and Falconetti's performance, which has been described as being among the finest in cinema history. The film summarizes the time that Joan of Arc was a captive of England. It depicts her trial and execution.
Danish film director Dreyer was invited to make a film in France by the Societe Generale des Films and chose to make a film about Joan of Arc due to her renewed popularity in France. Dreyer spent over a year researching Joan of Arc and the transcripts of her trial before writing the script. Dreyer cast stage actress Falconetti as Joan in her only major film role. Falconetti's performance and devotion to the role during filming have become legendary among film scholars.
The film was shot on one huge concrete set modeled on medieval architecture in order to realistically portray the Rouen prison. The film is known for its cinematography and use of close-ups. Dreyer also didn't allow the actors to wear make-up and used lighting designs that made the actors look more grotesque.
The film was controversial before its release due to conservative French nationalists being skeptical of the Danish Dreyer making a film about a French historical icon. Dreyer's final version of the film was cut down due to pressure from the Archbishop of Paris and from government censors. For several decades it was released and viewed in several re-edited versions that attempted to restore Dreyer's final cut. In 1981 a film print of Dreyer's final cut of the film was discovered in a mental institution in Oslo, Norway and re-released.
Despite the objections and cutting of the film by clerical and government authorities, it was a critical success when first released and has consistently been considered one of the greatest films ever made since 1928. It has been praised and referenced to by many film directors and musicians.
The film and Falconetti's performance have continued to be praised by critics throughout the years. Pauline Kael wrote that Falconetti's portrayal "may be the finest performance ever recorded on film." Roger Ebert praised the film and said that "You cannot know the history of silent film unless you know the face of Renee Maria Falconetti." Jean Semolue called it "a film of confrontation" and Paul Schrader has praised "the architecture of Joan's world, which literally conspires against her; like the faces of her inquisitors, the halls, doorways, furniture are on the offensive, striking, swooping at her with oblique angles, attacking her with hard-edged chunks of black and white." Jonathan Rosenbaum has praised "Dreyer's radical approach to constructing space and the slow intensity of his mobile style make[s] this �difficult� in the sense that, like all the greatest films, it reinvents the world from the ground up."