A silent film that speaks volumes (Criterion's Voices of Light version)

Rating: 10/10 (3 June 2001)

What a beautiful and yet startling movie. I am currently watching it on TCM (Turner Classic Movies). It's outstanding, from the acting and cinematography to the words and music ("Voices of Light," performed by Anonymous 4 which was composed by Richard Einhorn who was said to have been inspired by the movie). This is a gem that needs to be seen by real film buffs (who would opt to view the film without sound, as director Carl Theodor Dreyer preferred) and current directors and producers. When I first began viewing it, I thought it had been filmed very recently. All the techniques used, from the placement of lights and cameras to the intimate close-ups of the faces of actors are stunning, almost shocking. As a still photographer, I feel the camera work by Rudolph Mate is tremendous -- there were angles used during the filming of the 1928 movie that still aren't used today. It's so powerful yet also unsettling; even with today's cinematography, Rudolph Maté's lens forced the viewer to see the pain up close, the insensitivity of the judges and guards... Maté's compositions must have been kept off-center to give the viewer a sense of imbalance. And when the film climaxed, camera movements rocked back and forth, or were swept upside down and even trampled on.
I wish I could have watched the making of "La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc," to see how the film crew and actors developed the movie. Word is that Dreyer insisted that no one wear makeup, which was unheard of in the making of movies in that time. He apparently was also obsessed with being factual and wound up relying on actual transcripts of the church trial. I am glad this movie has been released in video. Please, be sure to at least view this film with the "Voices of Light" music track, if not purchase it. I strongly recommend it, over what I recently saw in what may be the original music, a simple piano track. That version left me rather underwhelmed.
I had to save the best for last: actress Maria Falconetti. She never made another film from my understanding. Watch her body language and expressions, her tears and her eyes. One wonders if her heart was so involved in becoming her character, that perhaps she chose to not remain in films?