The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

<p>A mere eight years after the 1920 canonization of Joan of Arc, and in the midst of her great popularity as a French national hero, Danish director Carl Th. Dreyer made <em>The Passion of Joan of Arc</em>. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, and is included on the Vatican film list.</p> <p>Two aspects in particular put this film in the canon: first, Renee Maria Falconetti's transcendent performance as Joan, which some consider the greatest work ever done by a film actor. And second, the film's radical visual style, eschewing establishing shots and even a clear sense of place to focus entirely on the actors' faces, combining with fast-paced editing to put what Dreyer called the "close-quarter combat" between Joan and her judges front and center.</p> <p>The film combines a historical approach - based almost entirely on the real transcripts of Joan's trial - with non-realistic acting and cinematography, to arrive at "the ecstatic truth" about St. Joan (to borrow a phrase from Werner Herzog). <em>The Passion of Joan of Arc</em> feels much less dated than many silent films, and would make a great introduction for those unfamiliar with this era of cinema.</p> <p>Like many silent films, it has existed in various versions and states of disrepair over the decades - but <em>Joan</em>'s history is more remarkable than most. After the original negative was destroyed in a studio fire the year after it was shot, Dreyer reconstructed it shot-for-shot using alternate takes. The second version of the film was then destroyed in a different studio fire. In 1981 a print of the original film was discovered in the janitor's closet of a Norway mental institution, providing the fairly pristine version we can view today.</p> <p>But we still have various frame rates and soundtracks to choose from, which gives rise to a broader discussion about what constitutes, and who decides, the "definitive" version of a work of art.</p> <p><strong>Links</strong></p> <p>Read Nathan Douglas at The Vocation of Cinema <a href