Critics' Picks - 'Passion of Joan of Arc'

A .O. Scott examines the currents of emotion in Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1928 film.
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[@wildsmiley]

Maria Falconetti’s incredible performance in this film is, along with Giulietta Masina’s stellar performance in La Strada, the best I’ve ever seen by an actress.

[@erikfreitas7093]

Or Masina in “Nights of Cabiria” too!

[@Philosphyfanatic]

I film I love that my friends will not even bother to watch because it's old. This is a beautiful cinematic experience that shows how silent films still hold up today!

[@Cinemallennials]

Hey there, I feel the same way all the time! That’s why I created my podcast Cinemallennials where myself and a guest look at classic film through the millennial lens!!

[@jerrygil1965]

I'm 19 and this beautiful film is raw and depressing!

[@carbine125]

YES! Finally this film needs so much recognition. A film carved out of pure cinematic stone.

[@OUTBOUND184]

Agree with below. One of the greatest cinematic experiences to be had!!!

[@ashamazon2262]

Greatest performance by an actress captured on film.

[@Something-pp4lk]

Or an actor.

[@XerxesTheUndead]

I remember watching this movie on TCM at New Years a few years back. It was so powerful and you could feel so much emotion from it too. This movie is absolutely underrated and I wish more people knew about it.

[@amphitheatre]

Highly recommended. Be sure to pick up the Criterion version if you want that great soundtrack of Anonymous 4/ Voices of Light. It's almost essential to the viewing.

[@Jeremyramone]

wow! i really thought this film was more recent than 1928!? a perfectly marvelous work of art...

[@futuropasado]

In the top 3 films ever in my book.

[@ReliableInsider]

@DarkMatter1958 I think that's always the way, isn't it?. The most advanced, sophisticated artists have been living in the same creative space for centuries. And it has taken centuries for the rest of us to catch up.

[@aileenbordelon7884]

You have to have a lot of talent to be able to express clear emotion without being able to say anything.

[@mulleriomalario5364]

This and Sunrise are without doubt the best silent movies ever.

[@whatthedeuce92]

I agree with you on Sunrise, but I just wasn't a fan of this movie personally.

[@jerrygil1965]

@@whatthedeuce92 I think it's not your "style"

[@helvete_ingres4717]

last Sunday I watched silent films for the whole afternoon - Man with a Movie Camera (the only one I hadn't seen before), Sunrise, then the Passion of Joan of Arc. Sunrise is great and all but sandwiched between the other two it was like nothing in comparison, a hollywood melodrama (which it is, of course).

[@PatrickBaele]

the first modern movie

[@Hannibal082]

What do you mean exactly?

[@Hannibal082]

Julian Borges Ok. But how is this the first modern movie?

[@Hannibal082]

Julian Borges I recommend you check it out, it's a beautiful film. One of the greatest imo.

[@Hannibal082]

Julian Borges I think it did influence a lot of films thereafter but what does it mean to say it's the first modern film is where I'm a lil stuck

[@jerrygil1965]

I beg your pardon

[@ReliableInsider]

@DarkMatter1958 And black and white film has a clarity and power and a kind of chiaroscuro from the very beginning that our digital cameras are only today just beginning to rival in color.

[@mauritsdolmans746]

The Hampstead Arts Festival arranges: The Passion of Joan of Arc -- The movie with beautifully performed live choral music conducted by Peter Foggitt, including from the time of Joan of Arc, on Wednesday 6 November 2019. A unique event! See here for details: www.hampsteadartsfestival.com/whats-on/joan-of-arc.html In beautiful St. John-at-Hampstead 5 minute walk from the Hampstead Tube Station (Northern Line, Edgeware Branch), and 2 minutes from the 46 bus stop on Heath Street, Hampstead (North London)

[@koomo801]

Absolutely wrecks me whenever I've watched it. Au Hazard Balthazar is the only movie I've seen that comes close.

[@christiancurdt-christianse415]

Which score is featured in this clip? Is it the score from the Lo Duca version? It's definitely not the Lo Duca intertitles, so it seems unlikely.

[@ColonelSpankysLostBattalion]

I think it is Richard Einhorn's "Voices of Light."

[@MellyP22]

Anyone here after Aly & AJ's "Joan of Arc on the Dancefloor" music video? Their music video is based on this movie.

[@jerrygil1965]

This beautiful film is so depressing and raw

[@johns123]

What soundtrack was used in this version?

[@lukekingsland5851]

Someone comment elsewhere Richard Einhorns Voices of Light?

[@johns123]

@@lukekingsland5851 Thanks!

[@actadiurna6733]

The narrator says Joan of Arc "battled" the English, but she herself said at her trial that she stayed out of the fighting, carrying her banner instead. Her judge, Pierre Cauchon, was a well-documented collaborator who had served on the council which governed English-occupied Normandy for over a decade before the trial, and eyewitnesses said he corrupted the trial and ordered the transcript falsified on some crucial points, but this film relies heavily on the transcript.

[@alexanderrakes2856]

m

[@oliverblackburn479]

14th century****

[@technodroog]

15th...she was born in 1412...not a hard fact to look up ;)

[@erichansen3641]

Why did they not show Joan of Arc's, ARC REACTOR heart in this film? Is it too controversial for Christians and Catholics? If Joan of Arc had been a Hindu, Hollywood would have no problem showing us her ACT REACTOR heart. Are there some kind of Vatican and French censors stopping the showing of Joan's ARC REACTOR heart in film's such as this? Casper Tybjerg never mentions why Joan's ARC REACTOR heart was not shown in the film.