Simplicity of sets

Rating: 10/10 (5 September 2004)

The simplicity of the sets in this film are absolutely breathtaking. It is a film that captures the imagination not so much with what it shows as what it doesn't show.
This film is truly a "passion." Maria Falconetti expresses the pain and the anguish of a person who truly is being persecuted. Most of her shots are simply face or head-and-shoulder shots. Perhaps it is a reality of silent films that makes the images all the more compelling. Still, one can't help but wonder whether movies wouldn't be better today if the example set by this film and others like it were not followed.
Maria Falconetti is stunning. One wonders why this extraordinary talent is not more widely known.