Movies - The Passion of Joan of Arc

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	Movies - The Passion of Joan of Arc

The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc) was a silent film released in France in 1928 based on the trial records of Joan of Arc. The film was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and starred Maria Falconetti and Antonin Artaud.

Story and style

The film comprises five gruelling cross-examinations and the resultant burning of Joan at the stake. What especially stood out at the time 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 forbade his actors to wear any makeup, the better to tell the story through their expressions. Falconetti — in her only movie role — was commended for her multifaceted performance as Joan.

Passion was originally intended to use the new technology of sound, but Dreyer did not have sufficient financing and so the film is silent.

Dreyer intended the film to be watched in complete silence with no musical accompaniment. However, in 1994 composer Richard Einhorn wrote an oratorio based on the movie, entitled "Voices of Light". This piece is now available as an optional accompaniment on the Criterion Collection's DVD release of the film.

Responses and legacy

Some critics claimed that Passion was the best silent film ever made, and Pauline Kael wrote that Falconetti's portrayal of Joan of Arc "may be the finest performance ever recorded on film." However, 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 film was often heavily cut for distribution. It had been thought that Dreyer's original version was lost for many years, until in 1981 a complete print was found in a janitor's closet in an Oslo mental institution. This version is now available on DVD.

Scenes from Passion appear in Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre sa Vie (1962), in which the protagonist sees the film at a cinema and identifies with Joan.

Footnotes

Kael, Pauline. 5001 Nights At the Movies p.449.

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