The Passion of Joan of Arc

The face, the eyes of Renee Jeanne Falconetti will never be forgotten by any viewer of 1928's THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC.  Eyes wide open.  A face filled with pain and sorrow.  But across it will sometimes pass moments of peace, the kind that passes all understanding.  Many readers know the story of this famous 15th century martyr,  a warrior for the French against the English in the Hundred Years' War. Co-writer/director Carl Theodor Dryer's landmark film does not depict her battles and eventual capture in Northern France, but rather her interrogation in the court of Normandy, where she is faced down by several judges (who are anti-King Charles VII) who try her for religious heresy.

Surely this illiterate young woman who wears men's clothing must be lying when she speaks of her role as a child of God?  On a mission to drive the English out of her home country.  Joan d'Arc's face is studied by cinematographer Rudolph Mate's lens so thoroughly that we think we understand the gamut of emotions she experiences.  The authority figures' faces are also framed in continuous close-ups, their surroundings seemingly also conspiring against this poor girl, not even twenty years of age.  The trial is unnerving, and only a preamble of what is to come.  Torture chambers and a death by burning at the stake await.  

Dreyer has composed one of the most powerful treatises on belief I've seen.  His film is long form poetry designed to disquiet the soul.  To rattle the establishments, political and religious.  Also the plumb the depths of faith.  Of unwavering devotion to her Lord.  One that does not allow her to accept life imprisonment over death by being dishonest and unfaithful.   THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC is spiritually and emotionally gut wrenching.  So many images to consider.  One that I believe that will always remain with me is the one of an infant at her mother's breast while Joan is about the ascend to Heaven.  Are they in the gathered crowd, or is this image a memory? To me, Joan's face suggests the latter, and it's unbearably sad.  But deliverance is imminent.

Truly a visually astonishing motion picture.  Dreyer's direction is creative and has proven extremely influential.  His claustrophobic approach is a bit ironic as he had a huge set constructed, and he favors the tight shot.  But so perfect it is.   And that finale.  I believe it is as historically accurate as the rest of the film, and quite shattering.