The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

• Year: 1928
• Released: 25 Oct 1928
• Country: France
• Adwords: 5 wins & 2 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019254/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_passion_of_joan_of_arc
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: None, French
• MPA Rating: Passed
• Genre: Biography, Drama, History
• Runtime: 114 min
• Writer: Joseph Delteil, Carl Theodor Dreyer
• Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
• Cast: Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley
• Keywords: religion, silent film, trial, judge, court case,

8.2/10

The Passion of Joan of Arc Storyline

Imprisoned by the Burgundians at Beaurevoir Castle, and then moved by the English to the impregnable Rouen Castle, Joan of Arc–France’s most charismatic commander; brave leader during the Siege of Compiègne, and a national symbol for the French cause during the Hundred Years’ War–finds herself standing trial for heresy. Interrogated by the Cardinal of Winchester in her prison, and mocked by the judge, Bishop Pierre Cauchon, and prosecutor, Jean d’Estivet, for claiming to see visions of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret, Joan of Arc is forced to recant and repent, having to endure degradation, torture, and the ordeal of endless sessions of cross-examinations, from January 9, 1431, to March 26, 1431. And, on May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake at the Old Marketplace in Rouen, labelled a false prophetess, a blasphemer, and a sorceress.

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The Passion of Joan of Arc Movie Reviews

The Good & Bad Of ‘The Passion Of Joan Of Arc’

If you’ll pardon the rambling, here are my thoughts immediately after watching this on DVD an hour ago…….

THE STORY – Many of the times, while watching this for the first time, I thought this was almost the re-enactment of Jesus’ last day, seeing the phony trial, the trumped-up charges He endured by legalistic, power-hungry religious leaders of the day who had no clue who God is, and then the tragic end to the central character. Apparently, there were a lot of similarities to Joan of Arc’s last day and of Christ’s day. However, here it’s the Catholic leaders who are the ‘bad guys’ while in Jesus’ time it was the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin. Also, with Joan’s story here, she is portrayed far differently in her ordeal than Christ did, the latter taking everything in stride stoically while Joan, without any physical beating, still cried constantly and signed some paper in a moment of weakness (although she later recants that, which costs the woman her life.)

Anyway, about this film:

THE GOOD – Wow, what incredible direction and photography. Scene after scene is pretty amazing and especially so when you consider this was made about 80 years ago! I would like to see the same director and photographer doing work with today’s technology.

The expressions on Maria Falconetti’s face throughout the film are memorable. A sadder, more pained look on Joan of Arc – or anyone else’s – I have not seen in a motion picture. She also must have set a record that still stands for the most tears shed by one person in a movie! The woman’s eyes were like faucets.

All of the faces in here – and the film is mostly a series of facial closeups – are amazing and kudos to Criterion for making a DVD that showed these faces with a clear picture and amazing detail. Director Carl Theodor Dreyer’s camera angles still look innovative today. He and Orson Welles seem to share the same love of this kind of photography. I found myself numerous times just shaking my head in admiration for how these characters were photographed.

Another big plus for this film was the addition of “The Voices of Light.” They made the music score in here fantastic. I can’t recall too many films in which I have been so impressed with a soundtrack. The DVD gives you the option of watching this film with or without that audio. I strongly recommend viewers to take the audio.

Finally, the story itself is memorable, with a powerful ending.

THE BAD – I have to make these comments to be fair and honest. It’s not hard to understand why many people will find this film almost impossible to sit through, especially those with no emotional or spiritual involvement with the story. That is because it is extremely slow and repetitive. Shot-after-shot of just Falconetti agonizing or crying and weird-looking men staring at her. If you aren’t a devotee of cinematography, this movie could be extremely boring after about 10 minutes.

As powerful as the story is, it isn’t a movie I would recommend for most people. I think most folks – of any age, frankly – would be turned off after 20 minutes. I understand that. As mentioned, this is not an easy film to view. This might be the longest 80-minute movie you’ll ever see, if you aren’t into it.

OVERALL – Visually and audibly: an astounding movie and one I am glad to have finally watched. If I was wishing to get into the movie business and wanted to learn how to shoot films, this would be a film I would study numerous times. Otherwise, one viewing is plenty. I can only recommend this film to a very select audience.

Brilliantly filmed but with an odd performance by Joan.

“La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc” is probably the most famous work of Danish film maker Carl Theodor Dreyer. Unlike the typical biographical film, this one is based completely on the court proceedings in the trial of Joan–not some fictional or semi-fictional story written in 1928. This is pretty wild, as many historical films view truth as very flexible–with the real emphasis being on entertainment. If this means inventing characters or changing history–so be it! But, fortunately, not in this film! It’s a history teacher’s delight! When the film began, I sure was bowled over by the powerful soundtrack filled with Latin liturgical singing. While annoying normally, here with the intensity of the film and the subject matter is managed to work. In addition, the film is an artistic piece due to the director Dreyer’s artistic vision. First, his choices of actors was truly amazing–as he chose some of the most amazing faces I’ve seen in a film–such character, such intensity and such acting from these people is truly amazing. Plus the camera pulls so much from the actors due to fantastic lighting and clarity of focus–you can even very clearly see the pores on many of the actor’s faces! Second, unlike almost all other silent films and even sound ones, this one makes great use of closeups and inventive camera angles to heighten the intensity of the action as well as the impact on the audience. The result is a film that hits you in the face–hard, forceful and impossible to ignore. Especially strong in its impact is the execution itself–Dreyer chose to make incredibly vivid (so much so, some might find it very disturbing).

Now I must say that although I greatly admired this, there was, at times, a downside. The actress that played Joan (Maria Falconetti) often looked downright crazed–like she was off her medication and reeeaalllly needed it!! While this could actually be true (after all, she was seeing things and having conversations with dead folks), I doubt if Dreyer wanted his audience to think Joan of Arc was nuts–as she so often appeared in the film. This is sad, really, as at other times, Ms. Falconetti did a masterful job–showing great sorrow and crying most convincingly. But, in many cases, after crying and emoting wonderfully, moments later she was staring off into space like she was stoned. I know this film is considered one of the great films of the silent age, but I don’t know how this can be based on the truly bizarre and inconsistent characterization of Joan. Yes, I dare question Dreyer’s brilliance in this respect. Overall, there’s a lot to love and a lot that makes you question the film’s “classic” status. Very good…just not great.

A contender for THE movie of the 1920s

As much as I did love Metropolis, The Gold Rush and Faust(1926), The Passion of Joan of Arc is a contender for the movie of the 1920s, that’s how amazing it is. It is an incredibly well made film, it draws on artistic styles from the Renaissance through to the avant-garde and with all the symbolic angles, zooms, tilts and pan shoots the photography is spellbinding and captures the authentic costumes, sets and scenery wonderfully.

The Passion of Joan of Arc is also a very haunting film, as what it does have is an atmosphere that is so genuine and unsettling. It is beautifully directed by Carl Th Dreyer, and the story based on trial records is highly compelling and genuinely dramatically intense in its action. Other than the atmosphere and visuals, what makes The Passion of Joan of Arc is the lead performance. Sincere and personal, Maria Renee Falconetti is absolutely astonishing.

All in all, amazing and dare I say a milestone not only of its decade and genre but of film in general. 10/10 Bethany Cox