A Film That, Like Joan, Is Rebellious Yet Has a Soul

Rating: 10/10 (3 April 2000)

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!
"The Passion of Joan of Arc" is, for me, one of the top three films of all time. I regard it very highly because the film is able to combine influences from different countries (e.g., the set design is part German Expressionism, achieved by one of the set designers, German-born Hermann Warm), communicates both Joan's disoriented state of mind and her spirituality (sometimes at the same time) and accomplishes both of these achievements by the film's third asset: the cinematography, largely done by Frenchman Rudolph Mate. Not even in a film by Sergio Leone (Once Upon A Time In The West, for example) was the camera used so adventurously with regard to its use of the close-up. Dreyer is gutsy enough to violate certain film norms to convey a feeling of disorientation and yet intimacy, so that we closer identify with Joan's state of mind--that of intense devoutness and despair.
Dreyer has some shots canted (tilted) very severely, so that we're occasionally looking STRAIGHT UP at someone who looks down at us (such as Andre Berley's Jean D'Estivet, when he criticizes Joan). Close-ups of people we've never seen before suddenly pop up, and we start to think: "Who was that?". We lose our sense of what cinema calls spatial continuity, or a consistency in how objects are spaced from one another. Because he uses so many close-ups, we cannot tell where one priest is from another, or where Joan is in relation to a priest who questions her. We, like Joan, become confused at being interrogated (often the priests' questions are directed at US, as they look straight at the camera) from all sides. The close-ups also emphasize contrasts in physical features (Dreyer made, as I understand it, his actors and actresses wear no make-up in the film), so that we see the ugliness of certain priests (particularly head interrogator Bishop Cauchon, played by Eugene Silvain) and the physical and spiritual beauty of Joan.
It is because of the rule-breaking cinematography, along with the superb acting--no one overplays their role as silent film actors often tend to do--that the film retains its' marvelous power. Seventy-two years after the film appeared, it is still mentioned in reviews about a film where Joan of Arc is the subject (Luc Besson's "The Messenger" is the latest example), which attests to the film's strength. Because of these virtues, I regard "The Passion of Joan of Arc" very highly, and I strongly recommend that any filmgoer see it at least once, to experience a film that, like Joan, possesses a spirit that is timeless.