The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc) poster & wallpaper
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Renée Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, Antonin Artaud, Louis Ravet, Maurice Schutz ... see more see more... , Andre Berley , Michel Simon , Jacques Ama , Jean D'Yd , Alexandre Mihalesco , Henri Maillard

The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc) is widely regarded as Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer's finest achievement and one of the greatest films of all time. Dreyer recreates the t... read more read more...rial and execution of St. Joan with near-documentary authenticity, as if one were present at the actual 15th century event and both defendant and accusers were the genuine article. The director's use of huge, probing close-ups -- detailing every pockmark and even the saliva at the sides of the mouths -- adds a shocking immediacy which makes it hard to believe that this film is nearly 70 years old. As Joan, Renée Maria Falconetti (in her only film) transcends mere praise. The Passion of Joan of Arc is a silent film, but the original transcripts of Joan's trial are brilliantly conveyed by the pantomime of the actors. The film's title is supremely double-edged -- Joan's "passion" is shown to be as erotic as it is spiritual. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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93% liked it

9,180 ratings

Critics

97% liked it

32 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 54 min.

Directed by: Carl Theodor Dreyer

Release Date: April 21, 1928

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DVD Release Date: November 9, 1999

Stats: 934 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (934)

  • brooklynspo
    July 22, 2007
    brooklynspo
    Tonight, Sunday 7/22 Midnight E.S.T.

    Turner Classics
  • fb1664868775
    October 27, 2011
    fb1664868775
    With breathtaking visuals and a potent story, it's hard to believe this was released in 1928.
  • axadntpron
    February 25, 2011
    axadntpron
    Four stars for the film, an extra half of a star for how utterly brilliant Falconetti is. Whether it was Dreyer's idea to make her kneel upon stone or her own prowess in acting that allowed her to give such a painfully passionate and nuanced performance, it is simply breathtaking... read more. As for the film itself, it really never lets you go. Without any establishing shots, the viewer is plunged face first into the drama. From the accusers to the accused, there is a real sense of vehemence that all of the actors exude.
    It is passionate, relentless, and beautiful all at the same time. While I don't think I will revisit this more than one time in a decade, It is none the less an important film and displays the power that actors such as Falconetti can have in a film.
  • ajv2688
    November 24, 2010
    ajv2688
    Wow, this movie is beautifully made. I highly recommend seeing this movie, it's intensely dramatic, and visually brilliant, and the actors are just perfect. I loved it.
  • ceWEBrity
    September 8, 2010
    ceWEBrity
    What is there to say? There are literally no flaws in this movie. This is film history, living and breathing with unapproachable grace. Allegory, political piece, religious parable; it can be all of them and it can be none, but it is a profound emotional statement about the natur... read moree of faith and the faithful above all.

    An absolute essential.
  • pier007
    March 14, 2010
    pier007
    Maria Falconetti strips her soul before the lens and makes us witnesses of all the anguish and powerlessness suffered by the martyr of france in the sunset of her life.
  • flixsterman
    February 14, 2010
    flixsterman
    Wow.

    Director Carl Dreyer's true medium is the landscape of the human face. His film is carried by the close-up, by the texture of skin and the conveyance of a teardrop. Maria Falconetti's magnificent eyes. The weathered, bloated faces of her persecutors. All contrasted agai... read morenst blank walls and minimalist sets.

    Intense.

    Timeless.
  • bottcorecords1
    November 28, 2009
    bottcorecords1
    The Passion of Joan of Arc, like most passion plays, recounts the final hours leading up to someone's final destruction at the hands of injustice, in this case St. Joan of Arc, one of the patron saints of France. Director Carl Theodor Dreyer faced a special problem when making a... read more silent film out of what is basically a "courtroom drama", and that is how to tell a story which relies so heavily on words while using only visuals. His solution was to bring the cameras in close, focusing in on the actors' faces in the most intimate way possible. Emotions that would be lost in wider crowd scenes become the focal point of the story-telling. Joan's (Maria Falconetti) stoic expression rapidly shifts to wide-eyed moments of terror as the men who sit in judgement froth and foam at the mouth. We watch this movie with the knowledge of Joan's fate (or at least we should), and we watch the wheels turn inexorably towards her doom, and one can't help but reflect on the pointlessness of religious persecution. The faces seem cut out of wood blocks or a Pieter Bruegel the Elder painting, the angelic Joan vs. the sneering medieval mob. It may require a little patience for modern sensibilities, but in the end, it's worth the effort.
  • webalina
    July 22, 2007
    webalina
    Silent French film based of the transcripts of the trial of Joan of Arc. I just saw this again, for the fourth time. Renee Maria Falconetti's performance as Joan of Arc is astounding. It's so good you almost can't believe you're not watching news footage of the actual trial. Is... read more this the best filmed performance ever? It's hard to believe this was her only film. The mind reels at what else she could have done had she stayed in the film business. But almost as effective is the end when Joan is burned at the stake. It is done in fairly graphic detail for the time, and it makes you feel totally emotionally drained after sitting through it. But even more it made me question the motives of a religious institution that would put someone through an ordeal like this, supposedly with God's approval. If you never see another silent film in your life, see this one. And make sure to see the version with Richard Einhorn's newly-composed "Voices of Light" score.
  • kiriyamakazou
    May 23, 2006
    kiriyamakazou
    Simply and utterly gorgeous. A silent gem that shows how far cinema can go on simply visuals. Mainly told in close ups, the performances are just restrained enough to avoid the comical silent overacting. An artistic masterpiece.

View All The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
May 26, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

Here is a deadly tiresome picture that merely makes an attempt to narrate without sound or dialog an allegedly written recorded trial in the 15th or 16th century of Joan of Arc for witchery, leading t... Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
February 9, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Dreyer's radical approach to constructing space and the slow intensity of his mobile style make this "difficult" in the sense that, like all the greatest films, it reinvents the world from the ground up. Full Review

Mordaunt Hall
March 25, 2006
Mordaunt Hall, New York Times

It is the gifted performance of Maria Falconetti as the Maid of Orleans that rises above everything in this artistic achievement. Full Review

John Monaghan
March 24, 2006
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press

Few films have earned classic status more than Carl Dreyer's 1928 silent study of the 15th-Century teenager who helped lead French troops against the British only to be tried as a heretic. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

You cannot know the history of silent film unless you know the face of Renee Maria Falconetti. Full Review

Kelly Vance
November 22, 2010
Kelly Vance, East Bay Express

A wondrously composed cathedral of light and shadow that departs from one text to establish another, parallel cosmos based on the architecture of the human face. Full Review

April 20, 2009
Film4

A work of formalist beauty and emotional power, with a luminous central performance from Falconetti. Full Review

David Parkinson
December 30, 2006
David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

One of the most inspired and inspiring films ever made. Full Review

June 24, 2006
Time Out

Dreyer's most universally acclaimed masterpiece remains one of the most staggeringly intense films ever made. Full Review

Cole Smithey
October 10, 2005
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Falconetti's shockingly modern performance as the 19-year-old Joan is a thing of irreproachable honesty and ethereal suffering. Full Review

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