The Passion of Joan of Arc

Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : 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 Renée Jeanne Falconetti and Antonin Artaud. It is widely regarded as a landmark of silent cinema.

Contents

1 Story and style
2 Responses and legacy
3 Footnotes
4 References
5 External links

Story and style

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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. In 1999, American Indie singer/songwriter Cat Power provided musical accompainment at several screenings of the film in America.

Responses and legacy

Actress Renée Jeanne Falconetti in a scene from The Passion of Joan of Arc.

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."¹ 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 original version of the film was lost for decades, after a fire destroyed the master negative. Dreyer himself attempted to reassemble a version from out-takes and surviving prints, but he died believing his original cut was lost forever. Almost miraculously, a virtually complete print of Dreyer's original version was found in 1981 in a janitor's closet of 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

Note 1: Kael, Pauline. 5001 Nights At the Movies p.449.

References

External links

[The Passion of Joan of Arc] at the [Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films] list
[Carl Theodor Dreyer essay at criterionco.com]

{| style="margin:0 auto" align=center id=toc width=600 !style="background:#CCCCCC" align="center"|Carl Theodor Dreyer |- |align="center"|Silent Films |- |align="center"| The President (1919) • The Witch Woman (1920) Leaves from Satan's Book (1921) • Love one Another (1922) Once Upon a Time (1922) • Michael (1924) Thou Shalt Honor Thy Wife (1925) • Bride of Glomdal (1926) The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) |- |align="center"|Sound Films |- |align="center"| Vampyr (1932) • Good Mothers (1942) • Day of Wrath (1943) • Two People (1945) • Water from the Land (1946) • The Struggle Against Cancer (1947) • The Danish Village Church (1947) • They Caught the Ferry (1948) • The Storstrom Bridge (1950) • The Castle Within the Castle (1955) • The Word (1955) • Gertrud (1964)

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.