| The Passion of Joan of Arc | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Carl Theodor Dreyer |
| Written by | Joseph Delteil Carl Theodor Dreyer |
| Starring | Renée Jeanne Falconetti Eugène Silvain André Berley Maurice Schutz |
| Cinematography | Rudolph Maté |
| Release date(s) | Denmark April 21, 1928 France October 25, 1928 |
| Running time | 110 minutes 82 minutes (restored DVD version at 24fps) |
| Country | France |
| Language | Silent film French intertitles |
The Passion of Joan of Arc (French: La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc) is a silent film produced in France in 1928. It is based on the record of the trial of Joan of Arc. The film was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and stars Renée Jeanne Falconetti. It is widely regarded as a landmark of cinema,[1] especially for its production, its 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 the English.[2] It depicts her trial, imprisonment, torture, and execution.
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Joan is brought to trial. Her judges try to make her say something that will discredit her claim or shake her belief that she has been given a mission by God to drive the English from France, but she remains steadfast. One or two of them, believing that she is indeed a saint, support her. The authorities then resort to deception. A priest reads to the illiterate prisoner a false letter supposedly from her king, telling her to trust in the bearer. When that too fails, Joan is taken to view the torture chamber, but the sight, though it causes her to faint, does not intimidate her. When she is threatened with burning at the stake, she finally breaks and allows a priest to guide her hand in signing a confession. However, she soon recants and is publicly executed.
Historically important in the 15th century, Joan of Arc was in the news in France after the First World War, having been canonised in 1920 as a saint of the Roman Catholic church and adopted as one of the patron saints of France. Dreyer said his film script was based exactly on the records of her trial and execution. What especially stood out at the time when Passion was made was the film's camera-work and emphasis on the actors' facial features. Dreyer shot a great deal of the film in close-up and did not allow his actors to wear makeup,[4] the better to tell the story through their expressions—this choice was made possible through use of the recently developed panchromatic film,[5] which recorded skin tones in a naturalistic manner. Dreyer also shot the film "from the first to the last scene ... in the right order."[4]
This was Falconetti's second and last film role.[6] According to film critic Roger Ebert:
For Falconetti, the performance was an ordeal. Legends from the set tell of Dreyer forcing her to kneel painfully on stone and then wipe all expression from her face--so that the viewer would read suppressed or inner pain. He filmed the same shots again and again, hoping that in the editing room he could find exactly the right nuance in her facial expression.[7]
The original version of the film was lost for decades after a fire destroyed the master negative. Dreyer himself attempted to reassemble a version from outtakes and surviving prints, but he died believing his original cut was lost forever. In one of the most important discoveries in cinema history, a virtually complete print of Dreyer's original version was found in 1981 in a janitor's closet of an Oslo mental institution.[8] This version is now available on DVD.
The New York Times film reviewer Mordaunt Hall raved:
... as a film work of art this takes precedence over anything that has so far been produced. It makes worthy pictures of the past look like tinsel shams. It fills one with such intense admiration that other pictures appear but trivial in comparison.[9]
Of the star, he wrote, "... it is the gifted performance of Maria Falconetti as the Maid of Orleans that rises above everything in this artistic achievement."[9] Pauline Kael wrote that her portrayal "may be the finest performance ever recorded on film."[6][8] Her performance was ranked 26th in Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time,[10] the highest of any silent performance on the list.
It was banned in Britain for its portrayal of crude English soldiers who mock and torment Joan in scenes that mirror biblical accounts of Christ's mocking at the hands of Roman soldiers. The Archbishop of Paris was also critical, demanding changes be made to the film.[9]
The Passion of Joan of Arc has appeared on Sight & Sound magazine's top ten films poll three times: as number seven in 1952[11] and 1972,[12] and as number ten (Critic's List) and six (Director's List) in 1992.[13] The Village Voice ranked it the eighth of the twentieth century in a 2000 poll of critics.[14] In 2010, the Toronto International Film Festival released its "Essential 100" list of films, which merged one list of the 100 greatest films of all time as determined by an expert panel of TIFF curators with another list determined by TIFF stakeholders. The Passion of Joan of Arc was ranked as the most influential film of all time.[15][16]
Scenes from Passion appear in Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre sa Vie (1962), in which the protagonist Nana sees the film at a cinema and identifies with Joan. In Henry & June, Henry Miller is shown watching the last scenes of the film and in voice-over narrates a letter to Anaïs Nin comparing her to Joan and himself to the "mad monk" character played by Antonin Artaud.
Music for the film was played live in the theatre and there is no evidence that Dreyer ever selected a definitive score for his film. Numerous composers have attempted to contribute scores for this film.
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