The Passion of Joan of Arc [La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc] (1928)To be honest, I'm not generally a fan of silent movies. The comedy depends too much on slapstick. The drama is over emoted. Prints tend to be in fairly shoddy shape--often way too dark. And everything seems to run at warp speed, as if the projectionist couldn't slow it down. There are of course a few I've enjoyed, but even with them, much of the enjoyment lies in the very fact that they are so old-fashioned, that they carry with them that whiff of nostalgia, a quaint creakiness. Carl Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc, on the other hand, is not only a great silent film, maybe even the greatest, it is also a seemingly timeless film, one where the fact that it's silent doesn't matter a bit, might almost be nothing more than the director's preference. If it were being released today, for the first time, it would still look fresh, original, innovative, and technically accomplished. Now part of this may just be a fluke. For years it was thought that the only prints of the film had been destroyed. Fire consumed the original and a newer version that Dreyer painstakingly reconstructed. After the second fire, he gave up and moved on to his next movie, Vampyr. Thereafter The Passion was apparently shown in pretty dubious versions, until in 1981 a pristine copy of the original was found in a closet of a sanitarium in Oslo, Norway. Whether it's a function of this unique preservation technique or wholly owing to Dreyer's vision, the film is much brighter and crisper than just about any other silent you'll ever see. Another great benefit that this recently restored version enjoys is the exceptional accompanying music, Voices of Light, composed by Richard Einhorn specifically for this purpose, though it is a fine oratorio in its own right. Dreyer used the actual transcripts of Joan's trial for the dialogue, but condensed the action down to one harrowing day. He used various camera angles, so for instance, when the inquisitors are questioning Joan we look up at them; when she answers we look down. Much is done in extreme close-up and the camera lingers over every wrinkle, mole, and fleck of spittle on these men. Nor does it spare Joan--the nineteen year old girl, whose very style of dress (in men's clothing), was a threat to established authority. She's played with bug-eyed intensity by Maria Falconetti who ends up looking like she's truly been tortured--ashen, gaunt, and hollow-eyed. Apparently by the end of the scene where they cut Joan's hair, Ms Falconetti and some of the crew were so emotionally distraught that they had to stop shooting while folks recovered. And, of course, in Joan's story, Carl Dreyer started out with remarkable
material. From trial, to prison cell, to torture chamber, to confession
to sudden retraction and execution, he follows every step of the way.
Because the camera is always drawn in so tight and because he collapsed
the time frame, we are allowed no room to breathe, no respite from the
march of fate. By the final horrific shots of the bonfire (May 30,
1431) consuming what is by then Joan's corpse, the viewer feels like they've
come as close as they would ever want to experiencing martyrdom.
That's no small achievement on Dreyer's part and makes this one of the
most memorable films of all time. It is astonishing. Websites:-WIKIPEDIA: Carl Theodor Dreyer -WEBSITE: Carl TH Dreyer -FILMOGRAPHY: Carl Theodor Dreyer (IMDB) -ENTRY: Carl Theodor Dreyer Danish director (Encyclopaedia Britannica) -ENTRY: Dreyer, Carl Theodor (Senses of Cinema) -ESSAY: Realized Mysticism in The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, Criterion) -EXCERPT: Thoughts on My Métier (Dreyer in Double Reflection, Carl Dreyer’s Writings on Film. Edited with commentary by Donald Skoller) -WIKIPEDIA: Ordet -FILM SITE: Ordet (The Word) (CarlTHDreyer.dk) -FILMOGRAPHY: Ordet (IMDB) -FILMOGRAPHY: Ordet (Rotten Tomatoes) -ENTRY: Ordet (Encyclopedia.com) -ESSAY: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Carl Dreyer (Criterion)JUN 10, 2010) -ESSAY: Where to begin with Carl Dreyer (Alex Barrett, BFI) -PODCAST: CARL THEODOR DREYER’S THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (Ryan Gallagher, August 5, 2009, Criterion Cast) -ESSAY: Carl Th. Dreyer (Armond White, AUG 20, 2001, Criterion) -ESSAY: The Incarnate Transcendence of Ordet (Thomas Beltzer October 2003, Bright Lights Film Journal) -ESSAY: Approaching and Transcending the Limit: The Experience of Death and Possibilities of Renewal in Carlos Reygadas’ Silent Light and Dreyer’s Ordet (Ian Tan, April 23, 2015, Bright Lights Film Journal) -ESSAY: Denounced, Cut, and Burned: The Passion of Joan of Arc (Gary Morris, January 1, 2000, Bright Lights Film Journal) -ESSAY: Watch with mother: The extraordinary films of Carl Dreyer are informed by his parent's terrible death. But the strict religious observance of his adoptive family is a myth (Jonathan Rosenbaum, 30 May 2003, The Guardian) -ESSAY: Joan of Arc: striking the right note for a silent film classic: Film director Carl Theodor Dreyer never settled on a score to accompany his 1928 silent masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc. Will the Orlando Consort’s a cappella version – using medieval songs composed in the saint’s lifetime – prove a more fitting soundtrack? (Donald Greig, 7 Jul 2015, The Guardian) -ESSAY: Carl Dreyer Questions Christianity in “Ordet”: At an International Cinema lecture, Dennis Packard explained the Christian themes and cinematic techniques in the Danish film Ordet. (Kayla Goodson, October 6, 2015, BYU Humanities) -ESSAY: Mise en Scène as Miracle in Dreyer’s Ordet (Jonathan Rosenbaum) -ESSAY: Never Too Late [on a Carl Dreyer retrospective] (Jonathan Rosenbaum, March 13, 2009, Artforum) -ESSAY: An Old Film in a New Light: Lighting as the Key to Johannine Identity in "Ordet" (Richard V. Goodwin, University of Otago, Journal of Religion & Film) -ESSAY: The Fullness of Time: Kierkegaardian Themes in Dreyer’s Ordet (Daniel Watts, School of Philosophy and Art History, University of Essex, Colchester) -ESSAY: ‘Ordet’ by Carl Theodor Dreyer a Kierkegaardian movie? (Igor Tavilla, June 2018, European Journal of Science and Theology) -ESSAY: The Unbelievable: Carl-Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet (Katerina Virvidaki, Testing Coherence in Narrative Film) -ESSAY: Filming a miracle: Ordet, Silent Light, and the spirit of contemplative cinema (Rick Warner, Critical Quarterly) -ESSAY: Why Carl Theodor Dreyer is one of cinema’s greatest ever directors: To mark the release of the BFI’s new Blu-ray collection, revisit four works by the Danish master. (PAUL RISKER, Little White Lies) -ESSAY: Christian’s Cinematic Syntax: Faith and “Ordet” (Christian Mietus, Jet Fuel Review) -ESSAY: “I Bid Thee Arise!”: Reverse-Editing and Reversal Miracles in Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet (Justin Ponder, Religion and the Arts) -ESSAY: The Beginner’s Guide: Carl Theodor Dreyer, Director (Film Inquiry, MARCH 2, 2018) -ESSAY: Re-sounding Carl Theodor Dreyer’s La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc (Donald Greig, The Oxford Handbook of Music and Medievalism) -ESSAY: ‘Ordet’ by Carl Theodor Dreyer a Kierkegaardian movie? (Igor Tavilla, June 2018, European Journal of Science and Theology) -ESSAY: A guide to rescoring a silent classic: Portishead’s Adrian Utley and Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory discuss writing new music for The Passion of Joan of Arc. (LARA C CORY, Little White Lies) -ESSAY: Carl Theodor Dr Carl Theodor Dreyer's Response to Anti-Semitism in His Unfilmed Jesus Film Scenario (Peter G. Christensen, 2006, The Bridge) -ESSAY: Space, Shadow and Light: The Films of Carl Theodor Dreyer (Bobby Seal, 2/12/15, Psychogeographic Review) -ESSAY: ‘Voices of Light’ and Joan of Arc illuminate mystery of faith (Rick Schultz, October 14, 2014, Jewish Journal) -ESSAY: The Beginner’s Guide: Carl Theodor Dreyer, Director (Benjamin Wang, MARCH 2, 2018, Film Inquiry) -ESSAY: Filmmaker Retrospective: The Spiritual Cinema of Carl Theodor Dreyer (Jorge Diez, February 9, 2015, Taste of Cinema) -ESSAY: Hygge, noir or both? The Films of Carl Theodor Dreyer (Susan Halstead, 20 MARCH 2018, British Library) -ESSAY: Techniques Of Terror: Carl Dreyer's Danish Gothic Dissected (Siobhan McKeown , March 14th, 2012, The Quietus) -ESSAY: Film Studies: Ready for your close-up? Well, sure, as long as it's a Carl Dreyer (David Thomson, 1 June 2003, Independent) -ESSAY: “Life. Yes. Life.”: Editing and Miracles in Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet (Justin Ponder, 20 October 2017, Art Cinema and Theology) -ESSAY: Carl Theodor Dreyer and Ordet: How "The Passion of Joan of Arc" filmmaker anticipated Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" by 50 years (Todd McCarthy, 11/13/2012, Hollywood Reporter) -DISCUSSION: The Stunning, Faith-Testing Strangeness of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s ‘The Word’ (Landon Palmer and Scott Beggs, Film School Rejects) -WIKIPEDIA: Kaj Munk -ETEXT: Attack Upon Christendom (Soren Kierkegaard) -ESSAY: Kierkegaard's anti-ecclesiology: the attack on ‘Christendom’, 1854–1855 (David R. Law, 27 Apr 2007, International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church) -ARCHIVES: dreyer (Jonathan Rosenbaum) -ARCHIVES: Carl Theodor Dreyer (Strictly Film School) -REVIEW ESSAY: Carl Dreyer: Day of Wrath, Ordet, Gertrud on VHS (Gary Morris, July 1, 2000, Bright Lights Film Journal) -REVIEW ARCHIVES: Ordet (IMDB) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Chris Fujiwara, Criterion) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Strictly Film School) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Philip French, The Guardian) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Roger Ebert) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (NY Times, Dec. 16, 1957) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (David Blakeslee, Criterion Reflections) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Decent Films) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Gary Morris, Images Journal) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Keith Phipps, AV Club) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Philippa Hawker, The Age) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Time Out) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Larsen on Film) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Tim Brayton, Alternate Ending) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Charles Silver, MOMA: Inside/Out) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (The Culturium) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Richard Brody, The New Yorker) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (douglas Buck, Offscreen) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (The Film Sufi) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Matthew, Classic Art Films) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Douglas Messerli, World Cinema Review) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Film Capsule) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Landon Palmer and Scott Beggs, Film School Rejects) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Darren Hughes, Arts & Faith) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (James Travers, French Films) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Dennis Grunes) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Life and Nothing More) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Paul Schrader, Criterion) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Culturium) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Douglas Buck, Off Screen) -FILM REVIEW: Ordet (Donald Levit, Reel Talk) -FILM REVIEW: Day of Wrath (Derek Malcolm, The Guardian) -FILM REVIEW: Day of Wrath (Jonathan Rosenbaum) -FILM REVIEW: Vampyr (Anne Billson, The Guardian)) -FILM REVIEW: Passion of Joan of Arc (Philip French, The Guardian) -FILM REVIEW: Passion of Joan of Arc (Roger Ebert) -FILM REVIEW: Passion of Joan of Arc (Gary Morris, Images Journal) -FILM REVIEW: Passion of Joan of Arc (Larsen on Film) -FILM REVIEW: Passion of Joan of Arc (Tim Brayton, Alternate Ending) -REVIEW: of The Films of Carl-Theodor Dreyer by David Bordwell (Jonathan Rosenbaum) -REVIEW: of FOUR SCREENPLAYS by CARL THEODOR DREYER; THE CINEMA OF CARL DREYER by TOM MILNE (DAVID BORDWELL, Film Comment) -REVIEW: of Gertrud (Elsa Gress Wright, Film Quarterly) -REVIEW: of Michael (Eric Henderson, Slant) -REVIEW: of The Parson's Widow (Silent London) -REVIEW: of The President (Time Out) -REVIEW: of Carl Theodor Dreyer and Ordet: My Summer With the Danish Filmmaker by Jan Wahl (Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter) OLDER LINKS: -FILMOGRAPHY : Carl Theodor Dreyer -The Films of Carl Theodor Dreyer -Great Directors--a critical database : Carl Theodor Dreyer (Acquarello) -INFO : La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928) (Imdb.com) -ESSAY : The saint goes marching in : As The Messenger storms theaters, a legion of Joan of Arc movies invades video stores (Steven A. Erickson, November 11-18, 1999, TimeOutNY) -DISCUSSION : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Arts Reformation) -ARCHIVES : "carl dreyer" (Find Articles) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (US Catholic Bishops) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (GARY MORRIS, Bright Lights Film Journal) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Michael Koller, Senses of Cinema) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Basement films) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (CGK, Bungalow) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (David Abrams, Culture Dose) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Andrew Chan, Film Written) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Acquarello, Strictly Film School) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Keith Phipps, Onion AV Club) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Brian Koller, Films Graded) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Play's Film Reviews) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (David Barry, Xiibaro) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Doug Pratt, DVD Review) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Gary Tooze, DVD Beaver) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (Michael Jacobson, DVD Review Central) -REVIEW : of The Passion of Joan of Arc (DVDangle) -REVIEW : of Passion of Joan of Arc (Mary Weems, Movie Magazine International) -REVIEW ESSAY : Vampyr, Day of Wrath, Ordet (The Word), and Gertrud : Three masterworks by one of cinema's supreme artists, finally in decent transfers (GARY MORRIS, Bright Lights Film Journal) -FILMS OF THE CENTURY : Carl Dreyer: Day of Wrath (Derek Malcolm, The Guardian) -FILM LIST : Sight & Sound Critics Survey : (#7) The Passion of Joan of Arc RICHARD EINHORN :
ANONYMOUS 4 :
JOAN OF ARC :
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