Something Only Silent Era Could Execute, Something Only Silence Can Still Achieve...

Rating: 10/10 (1 November 2009)

When tormented by lots of noisy productions of modern cinema, blockbusters filled with effects and action so successful at the box office, it is easy to remain both blind and mute to true art that silently addresses human sensibility. However, though so often neglected, forgotten for years, considered 'lost', it appears to rise again after a few generations in order to overwhelm a totally different audience...
This film, having experienced a strange fate of storms and fires, had to wait for decades in the dust of forgotten past in order to be acclaimed one of the true classics of cinema, one of its most genuine achievements. And many people will perhaps agree with me that its story does not constitute the only reason for its success.
The most significant aspect that makes LA PASSION DE JEANNE D'ARC so authentic nowadays are its humane depiction and realistic interpretation. It is not a hagiography of a saint who lived more than 500 years ago but a powerful insight into one of the most infamous trials in history when the daughter of God was found to be a daughter of Satan by...the 'holy' learned ecclesiastics. This trial, based on true notes, is presented in a unique, vivid manner where the viewer is stuck by merits galore characterized by profoundity of development, symbolism of visuals and simplicity of portrayals. Here, a necessary analysis must be made concerning the most significant merit of the movie, Marie Falconetti in the lead.
Considering Marie Falconetti, I would like to refer to the words entailed in the New York Times article which discussed the 'poignant' French film that premiered at the dusk of silent era. "as one witnesses her (Marie's) eyes filling with tears or perceives a faint grateful smile crossing her appealing countenance, one feels that it would be difficult indeed to elicit from any other actress such an eloquent interpretation as she gives in this production." Yes, Marie Falconetti gives a timeless, the most unique performance that appears to be as mesmerizing as it must have been in 1928. She executes the chain of various emotions from disappointment, shock, fear, sorrow, blissful hope, regret, to courageous dignifying faith. Her portrayal of a misguided lamb being found guilty, accused of heresy, tortured and executed by knowledgeable wolves is even more intensified by one more important aspect: close-ups.
Indeed, the film can boast an unusual number of close-ups --- ones, as Gary Morris nicely put it (2000), "among the most harrowing, claustrophobic ever." This strategy used so widely by director Dreyer makes the movie one ahead of its time, something innovative that introduced cinema to its more mature level of development. It also allows us to witness the whole drama on silver screen more intensely, feel sympathy for the main character while her bitter experience of the unjust accusations and satanic furies of the 'decent.' Throughout the movie, her face appears to represent the purity, upright heart, courage and holiness as contrasted to the wretched faces of wrath, corruption, hypocrisy and misery.
Besides, you can find lots of memorable moments thanks to Dreyer's masterful direction and Rudolph Mate's brilliant cinematography. Who can possibly skip such memorable scenes like the faces of the judges (the cast with no make-ups - so rare for its period), detailed symbolism of single images like torture chamber or mockery of Joan's Christ-like figure, the emphasis on various images of the Cross as sort of metaphorical manifestation of the main character's mind and heart.
I particularly liked the atmosphere close to the end when the viewer is truly led into the dramatic twilight of justice and, more to say, hope for justice. What seems to remain, what seems to be everlasting is... Love, the Love given by God, the Love that transforms and turns a dark night into a bright day: Joan takes the last Sacrament while the stake awaits her, the stake symbolizing earthly fire of destruction. These are the most powerful moments of the film. To make this experience even more unforgettable , I recommend you to see the film with Richard Einhorn's magnificent "Voices of Light" in the background. He wrote this music having seen the film and having been inspired by it.
Summing it up, I will again refer to the words of Gary Morris who reviewed the film at its DVD release (2000): LA PASSION DE JEANNE D'ARC "reverses the cliché that 'life imitates art." Similarly to the Maid of Orleans, it was rejected, destroyed by fire, forgotten; yet, when everything seems to be over, the genuine power of honest art strangely triumphs, does triumph like Joan who was canonized 5 centuries after her infamous execution. Perhaps, it has a message for us, she has a message for us, a touching but universal message for humanity and about humanity: its rises and falls, its deaths and triumphs heard in the astonishing sound of silence.