One of the All-Time Greatest Movies

Rating: 9/10 (12 June 2013)

A chronicle of the trial of Jeanne d'Arc (Maria Falconetti) on charges of heresy, and the efforts of her ecclesiastical jurists to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.
Dreyer really loves his close-ups in this picture, stressing the rough humanity of the faces -- they are not pretty, but full of emotion and contour. I can see why it was a commercial flop, as it is not terribly entertaining... but the pure genius of the film can be appreciated from a critical point of view.
Mordaunt Hall said "as a film work of art this takes precedence over anything that has so far been produced. It makes worthy pictures of the past look like tinsel shams. It fills one with such intense admiration that other pictures appear but trivial in comparison." That might be a bit of a stretch, but I can hardly disagree too strongly. My only real complaint is that Joan of Arc was 19 at the time of trial... and Falconetti was 35 or 36. But I cannot fault her acting.
The Criterion Collection comes with Richard Einhorn's "Voices of Light" as an optional score to the film. I strongly recommend this. While the film is powerful even silent, Einhorn nailed the feeling and more... I cannot imagine a better musical attachment to such a film.