The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

[La passion de Jeanne d'Arc]

Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Starring: Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley

Synopsis:
An account of the trial and execution of Joan of Arc.

Impressions:
Following my viewing of Saint Joan, I came across this film. I got to see the restored version based off the master they found in Denmark back in '81, apparently about as close to the original experience as possible. This is a rather striking film, composed almost entirely of close shots so the faces have to do almost all of the work. Maria Falconetti mostly just looks scared and confused with those big eyes of hers, but therein lies the power of her performance as I daresay it's a good representation of Joan's own experience. Facing fulminating clerics and leering guards, I imagine I'd look much the same in her shoes. A lot of attention was paid to historical accuracy in the costumes and such (though there are anachronisms) and almost all of the dialog comes from the actual transcripts of Joan's trial. Things are set up in such a way that the parallels with Christ's passion are fairly obvious. That doesn't make it any less effective, though. If you're interested in film treatments of Joan of Arc, this is one of the best. By all means, see it.

Rating:
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