The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Carl Theodor Dreyer's "The Passion of Joan of Arc"

In his 1925 critical success, "Master of the House," Carl Theodor Dreyer utilized confined spaces and close-ups to create a more intimate setting for his audience to sink into. This film caught the attention of the Societe Generale des Films in France, who reached out to Dreyer about coming to France to make a film about a female heroine. The society told Dreyer that he could make a film about either: Marie Antoinette, Catherine de Medici, or Joan of Arc. This was a relatively easy decision for Dreyer, as Joan of Arc had been canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 1920 and was named one of the patron saints of France. Because of this, she was more popular than ever. Dreyer spent over a year researching the historical documents dealing with Joan. The script he wrote for the film was based on original transcripts of her trial. For the film, however, he condensed 29 interrogations over the course of 18 months into just a single day. 

The film begins with the recognition of theses transcripts. The title card instructs the audience that what they are about to witness is historical document. We are then shown a panning shot showcasing the priests and soldiers anxiously awaiting the trial of Joan. What is important to note about diving into the film is the lack of context. Despite whatever historical knowledge the viewer may have about the subject of Joan of Arc, Dreyer gives absolutely no context. The lack of context provided instead implores us to look at the situation and the woman in it. Instead of seeing a series of historical events, we simply see a woman on trial for her beliefs, being interrogated by unruly and disgusting men. The reason for the unappealing appearance of the powerful men in the film is due to Dreyer's decision to go without makeup as well as emphasizing their faces with close-ups. He also employed lighting designs to emphasize their grotesque nature. In direct contrast, the face of Joan (and actress Maria Falconetti) is stunning. Dreyer shot her interrogators in high-contrast lighting while shooting Joan's in soft, even lighting. The high contrast lighting allowed for unappealing details in faces, such as warts and lumps, to be fully visible. Dreyer also used many low angle shots of the prosecutors so they would appear more monstrous and intimidating in the frame. To achieve this, several holes were dug on set so the camera could catch the appropriate angle. 

Another important element of the film is the set design. The film had one of the most expensive sets ever built for a European film at the time. Dreyer had an enormous concrete set built in the shape of an octagon, so he could accurately depict Rouen Castle. Inspired by medieval miniatures, production designers Hermann Warm and Jean Hugo erected one complete interconnecting structure. Immense detail was put into the set and was based on medieval manuscripts and accurate architectural drawings. The entire set was painted pink so that it would show up as grey on the black and white film stock. This grey directed contrast with the white sky. Despite the immense budget placed into the set, Dreyer only ever made sections of it visible because of his consistent use of close-ups for most shots. The film's producers were angry over the lack of budget actually being in front of the camera. Dreyer's response to this annoyance was that the immense set added to the actors' abilities to give convincing performances. 

In the film, Joan is interrogated by the Catholic priests, who claim that her belief that she is God's daughter is satanic manipulation. The priests even resort to deception, as one of them reads her a falsified letter from King Charles of France telling her to abdicate her stance. After being threatened to burn at the stake, she signs a confession. She is sentenced to life in prison. After the jailor shaves her head, Joan has a realization and calls the priests back in. Her realization is that she is unfaithful to God and recants her confession. She tells one of the priests that she would rather be a martyr and die righteously. She is then dressed in a sackcloth and placed upon a woodpile to be burned. As the flames rise and burn her alive, the crowd begins to become restless as they believe Joan to be a saint. The crowd clash with the military and many of them are killed. 

Despite the lack of historical context, the film is able to get at the emotional root of the Joan of Arc story. An illiterate, vulnerable peasant woman is humiliated and oppressed by powerful, manipulative men. The choice in the story becomes clear. Either conform to the will of the powerful and corrupt or die with your convictions. Joan chooses the later and becomes a martyr, allowing people to see the corrupt and evil men who structure their society. Dreyer structures Joan's story like that of the story of Jesus. Like Joan, Jesus was poor and stood up to the corrupt social state. Also, like Joan, he always acted in a state of grace, demonstrating his purity and goodness. It became clear how the Roman empire was evil when they allowed for the brutal mutilation and killing of a Godly man. Similarly, the humiliating and depraved murder of a Godly and saintly woman demonstrated to the crowd how evil and corrupt the ruling church was. Dreyer even fills the screen with parallels to the Jesus story. When a few soldiers find Joan, they mock her and make her wear a crown. When tying her to the burning post, they place a sign over her head that mocks her. These are just a few examples of Dreyer employing the story of Christ as a visual motif for the story of Joan.

The two most important and remember elements of the film are the close-ups and the acting. No film had ever used the number of close-ups that this film does. No film since has dared to replicate it. The entire story of the film is told by Dreyer through the use of a close-up. To Dreyer, the close-up allows the viewer a firmer connection to the character. Because this story is about a woman in her final moments of life, Dreyer wanted to viewer to feel what she feels. Because of the immediacy with which we are confronted with her varying emotions, the story becomes more felt and emotionally realized. Dreyer also directly contrasts the innocence and emotional purity of Joan's face with the grotesque and outraged faces of the powerful men. The back-and-forth effect between the two extremes allows the viewer to share in the suffering of Joan by whipping back and forth between innocent beauty and grotesque oppression. On top of this, the acting done by Maria Faclonetti is considered by many to the greatest acting performance ever put to film. There are few words to describe how transcendent her performance is. Her vulnerability, fear, desperation, despair, pain, etc., are all on full display and the intimacy Dreyer employs with his close-ups forces the viewer to reconcile with these extreme emotions. The result becomes an emotionally parallel experience between the viewers and the subjects. Never has a film demonstrated the uncanny ability to empathize with a character like this one. 

Close-ups are not the only method of filmmaking employed by Dreyer. He is constantly experimenting with the camera. He employs dolly shots, whip pans, and extreme editing. He even ties the camera to a rope and has it swing on a pendulum in one shot showing the soldiers arming themselves to prepare to violate the crowd of people. Speaking of extreme editing, Dreyer has even stated that his foremost inspiration for the film were Soviet Montage films. This becomes evident while watching the film, especially the closing scenes of violence. Throughout the film, Dreyer intermingles cuts of differing subjects to illicit abstract ideas about the correlating images. It is in this way he demonstrates Joan's purity and the corruption of the society around her. In the final scenes of violence, his cuts become more and more dramatic and quick. The intersplicing between Joan's burning body and soldiers murdering innocent civilians notions the idea that her death and sacrifice revealed the ultimate truth about the hypocrisy of the church. 

Upon its initial release, the film was hailed as a masterpiece. Despite this, it was a huge financial flop. Because of its financial lack of success along with the recent failure of Abel Gance's "Napoleon," the Societe Generale cancelled their contract with Dreyer. To make it worse, the film was heavily censored by the Catholic-backed French state. Dreyer accused the Societe Generale of mutilating his film to avoid offending the Catholic church. Because of this, the actual themes of the film play out in reality. "The Passion of Joan of Arc," like the actual Joan was mutilated and condemned by a corrupt government, despite it being pure in its holy convictions. Because of this, the film becomes even closer to its subject. 

The original copy of the film was thought to have been lost, while the censored version remained. However, in 1981 in an insane asylum, the original copy of the film was found in a janitor's closet. Since then, many film historians have been able to lay their eyes upon Dreyer's original vision. Most, if not all, have called it a masterpiece. Pauline Kael has called Falconetti's performance "the finest performance ever put on film." Roger Ebert said that "you cannot know the history of silent film unless you know the face of Renee Maria Falconetti." Paul Schrader has praised "the architecture of Joan's world, which literally conspires against her; like the faces of her inquisitors, the halls, the doorways, furniture are on the offensive, striking, swooping at her with oblique angles, attacking her with hard-edge chunks of black and white." Anyone that witnesses this masterpiece gets a front row seat to the emotional final moments of one of the greatest women who ever lived. There are many different things you can take from this film. One of them being your own connection to the hero. Despite the corruption and oppression that surrounds you, you must stand up for your beliefs, even at the risk of being crucified. It is only through sacrifice that change can come. You must decide if you want to sign your name the those that own you, or stand against them.