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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