The Most Spiritually Overwhelming Film Ever Made

Rating: Null/10 (26 January 1999)

I saw this film for the first time a year ago, and it was such an earth shaking, illusion shattering experience for me, that I have not been the quite the same since. In fact, it left such an enormous impact on me that I have not been able to see it again since, not wanting to undermine the overwhelming, spiritual epiphany that I deeply felt I had experienced the first time. A very stubborn and silly attitude, I know, and one which I hope to overcome in the near future, once I come to terms with the infinitely important statements it makes on the very extremes of human nature.
The Passion of Joan of Arc is work of art in the truest and purest sense of the term; it is a timeless expression of the eternal human conflict, namely the yearning for the ideal - the spiritual connection which binds all of humankind. It is a statement without time or place, language or nationality, and set religious system or dogma. I think that's where the true power of this film lies; in the fact that it concentrates on the exploration of universal human emotions and themes in a simple story, rather then having it's power and timelessness detracted from by an overly complex plot and other timely constructions.
Since this is one of my first reviews here, the first two being Tarkovsky's Sacrifice and Nostalgia, I'll arrange my thoughts as much as possible to not make this overlong and gushing. Just want to comment on certain aspects of this film which particularly struck me. First of all, was the sense that this was one unified work of art, every element of film working together seamlessly, to form a coherent picture with a unique clarity of spirit, which feels very unencumbered by excess. The sublime orchestration of music and images overwhelmed me with its poignancy; it was like music for all of the senses, always keeping everything at a high plane of emotion, accentuating the transcendent feeling I had throughout.
Falconetti as Joan, as I've heard many times before, is the best performance ever captured on film, hands down. Even before there was "method" acting, she embodied it. You could feel every emotion she felt, because you sensed she was never holding anything back. With the whole movie done in closeups, the indescribably expressive quality of her face only intensifies, making her's and your involvement much more personal.
It is not only Falconetti's relentless portrait of suffering that comes through to the viewer, but most powerfully, the spiritual glory and triumph which shines through her luminous eyes in the midst of the worst suffering, which shows her pure spirit and the strength of her faith. That is what most stayed with me about this film, even after the horrifying closing moments of her burning body on the stake. It was her triumph.