The Passion of Joan of Arc

Silent films ushered in the Age of the Silver Screen. The Age of the Silver Screen was an era that birthed many film stars within the film industry. One of which is was Renee Maria Falconetti, the lead actress in the silent film directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer The Passion of Joan of Arc. Silent films are a form of media that mastered the craft of visual storytelling. Dreyer’s construction of his 1928 film presents a great example of visual storytelling.

The majority of Dreyer’s film was composed of close up and medium shots (Ebert 1997). Each shot presented Falconetti’s character—Joan of Arc—and her tormentors—the clergymen— from a low angle. However, Joan always looked up, and the clergymen always looked down at her. This shows that the clergymen possessed power over Joan from the start of the film. The close-up shots of Joan were tighter on her visage to showcase her facial expressions and emotive sense of character. The majority of the camera’s movements—pans, tilts, and moving crane shots—only occurs when the clergymen are involved with the scene. In addition, the camera granted the viewer with visual symbolic imagery. For example, a drawing of Joan depicts her as a fire breathing dragon on the walls of the prison. This drawing encodes that the clergymen believe she works for Satan. In another, the stake used to hold Joan in place while she burned was placed in the foreground of the church cross. In combination with the chaos unfolding on the church grounds after Joan’s death implicitly states that Satan won the day.

Right - Drawing of Joan as a demonic dragon. 

Left - Cross is in the background representing the church's loss.
Right - Stake that Joan was burnt on is in the foreground representing Satan's victory. 

Dreyer used the lighting in his scenes to help exaggerate and portray emotive facial features and to display a character’s moral standing within the realm of good and evil. Joan is primarily shown with a key light shining on the front of her face, symbolizing her purity and dedication to God. The clergymen are always presented with a light shining above them, highlighting their wrinkles, disenchanted expressions, and Pharisee characteristics. 

Regarding the performance of the actors, Falconetti’s portrayal of Joan is known to be in a class of its own. Her countenance wonderfully portrayed disconnection, determination, dismay, fear, and agony without the need for words (Rose, 2010). Her reactions were exaggerated yet not silly or cliché. Falconetti’s dazed gaze throughout the film showed a sense of disconnection from her situation and the church. That she lent an ear to God and His wisdom and presented herself as the physical manifestation of the John 18:36 “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world; therefore the world hates you.” (Open Bible, n.d.). The performance of the clergymen was also very exaggerated and worked well in tandem with their anger towards Joan. Their wide eyes, shaking heads and spraying spit conveyed a great sense of the clergymen’s uncouth pharisee like behavior. The film’s plot having been inspired by authentic manuscripts of the trial of Joan of Arc may have something to do with the actor’s grand performances.

Close-up of Joan.

Close-up of one on the lead clergymen

The editing style of The Passion of Joan of Arc is very different from modern film media. Joan and the clergymen were not often shown in the same shot. The film cuts back and forth between Joan and the clergymen. The camera presents them separately for much of the film, highlighting the disconnection between Joan and the men of God. In addition, the mise-en-scene is only shown when the camera is focused on the clergymen throughout the beginning of the film. The camera mainly keeps Joan in a tight close-up in front of a plain background.

In conclusion, The Passion of Joan of Arc told the story of the young 18-year-old French heroine through a mix of great camera work, lighting, actor performance, and editing. The camera mainly isolated Joan for much of the film to create a connection between Joan and the viewer. The set lighting allowed for the moral standpoint and for a crucial character’s true colors to be revealed. The actor’s performances were exaggerated to set the atmosphere and tone of the film. Lastly, the editing compliments the camera work in achieving the disconnection between Joan and the clergymen.

Sources

Ebert, R. (1997, February 16). The Passion of Joan of Arc Movie Review (1928) | Roger Ebert. Retrieved January 28, 2019, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-passion-of-joan-of-arc-1928

Open Bible. (n.d.). 98 Bible Verses about Not Of This World. Retrieved January 29, 2019, from https://www.openbible.info/topics/not_of_this_world

Rose, S. (2010, October 20). The Passion of Joan of Arc: No 22 best arthouse film of all time. Retrieved January 29, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/20/passion-joan-arc

What Makes A Film Brilliant?

       The movie Citizen Kane inherited the most brilliant film in 1962 when it claimed the top spot of the Sight and Sound poll. Citizen Kane held the number one spot for decades until the film Vertigo asserted its position as the next greatest film. Citizen Kane was granted such a stellar reputation due to the choices the director, Orson Welles, as well as other members who were a part of the film crew made. The editing and camera composition, performances, technical stunts and effects, cinematography among other film elements allowed the film to stand out. I believe these elements are also what makes other films such as Kill Bill Vol. 1 brilliant.  

       The editing done for Citizen Kane elaborately and concisely presented the timeline of the main character Charles Foster Kane — played by Orson Welles. Kane’s life was not shown in chronological order, and the camera took the audience on a journey to observe keys moments of Kane’s existence. In addition, multiple styles of editing were used to tell his story such as montage sequences and superimpositions. The editing choices kept the film feeling fresh while traversing different times, spaces, and events. The same goes for Quinton Tarantino’s film Kill Bill Vol. 1. Tarantino’s film used many close-ups, some superimpositions, crane shots, and more to keep his film feeling fresh from beginning to end. The film constantly uses close-ups to focus on the main character’s face, and reactions to the audience always know how the nameless protagonist feels. This technique allows the bond that is being developed between the viewer and the main character to develop as the viewer gets to know her continually.  Regarding superimposition, the technique is used multiple times with separate purposes in mind. It is used to show what the main character is thinking, to give new information, and to connect two people in a conversation so that the audience can see both parties involved and their reactions. 

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Image Source

       Welles’ presented an excellent use of camera composition in Citizen Kane. The films use of deep focus wonderfully presented the mise-en-scene for multiple scenes. The use of deep focus allowed for an entire space and the movements of actors to be seen together. Actors presented in a scene were dramatized by the large space created by the camera, creating a deeper sense of engagement with the moment. Welles’ use of lighting, playing with the contrasting tones of lights and darks, let the audience see into the minds of the actors, feel ominous and atmospheric conditions within a space, as well as hid some actors in mystery. Tarantino also used black and white in Kill Bill: Vol. 1. There is a scene where Uma Thurman’s character continues her fight against the gang of a former assassin. The connecting atmosphere creates a sense of reverence for the events that transpired, and the emotions attached. The absence of color intensifies the moment of determination and slightly disconnects the viewer from the violence so that they can focus more on the main character’s face and actions. The fight then switches from being in black and white to a silhouette style in a wide shot so that the audience only focuses on the final crucial movements of the fight. The film has a great sense of camera composition, specifically during fight scenes. Multiple shots such as close-ups, crane shots, zoom outs, pans, wide shots, and more are used to show everything from every angle, even below the protagonist on a couple of occasions. 

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Image Source

                   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upwg6JMtyCg

       Lastly, I believe that impact a film can have has a great effect on its brilliance. Citizen Kane had a great impact on the film world. Even though other films have been deemed better over time, it is still a great movie for critics, directors, and students. This is because Citizen Kane is, according to critic Georges Sadoul, “an encyclopedia of old techniques” (BBC, 2015). The film provides examples of deep focus, rear projections, extreme close-ups and over-lapping dialogue (BBC, 2015). Kill Bill Vol. 1 had a major impact on the film world. Multiple filming techniques were used in tandem to compliment the mood of the scene. Tarantino used a mixture of black and white, animation, editing, and cinematic techniques with the purpose of utilizing them to act as a vehicle to carry the actors and the viewer through the movie.  

       In conclusion, what makes a film brilliant is the style in which it is made. The way the film is edited has a major part to play in the flow of the film and can give justice or discredit the actors, cinematography, and story. Camera composition frames and shows what the director of a film wants the viewer to see and how they will see it. Composing scenes gives implicit messages that are handed to the viewer to discover so that they are engaged. Finally, the impact a film acquires through artful and masterful use of techniques inherited from a director and their team indeed makes a film brilliant. 

Sources

BBC. (2015, July 20). Culture - What's so good about Citizen Kane? Retrieved January 15, 2019, from http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150720-whats-so-good-about-citizen-kane

IMDb. (n.d.). Citizen Kane. Retrieved January 15, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033467/faq?ref_=tt_faq_1#fq0001778

Singer, L. (2016, May 3). 20 inspired visual moments in Citizen Kane. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/20-inspired-visual-moments-citizen-kane

SparkNotes. (n.d.). Citizen Kane Main Ideas. Retrieved January 15, 2019, from https://www.sparknotes.com/film/citizenkane/section2/

Valero, G. (2011, September 28). "Kill Bill" and the love of cinema. Retrieved January 15, 2019, from https://www.rogerebert.com/far-flung-correspondents/kill-bill-and-the-love-of-cinema

Zook, W. (2017, April 6). Kill Bill Volume 1 – Stylization and Substance. Retrieved January 15, 2019, from https://sites.tufts.edu/willemzookenglish186/2017/04/06/kill-bill-volume-1/