Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Year: 1928
Run-time: 1 hr 26 min
Source: Amazon Video
So many of the films so early on this list feel full of promise - it is genuinely fun to see certain editing tricks being worked out, or to see talented directors be the first to combine two genres or invent new ones.
The Passion of Joan of Arc is an incredible film, but it also feels like a dead end. Certainly, that's literally true for its main character. But I can't imagine a film even remotely like it being made today. How could a digitally shot film create the same bizarre texture that each mostly-white frame of this picture has? How could a modern sound film simulate the effect that Joan's whispered replies has to a room full of angry inquisitors?
And, of course, will there ever be another director who conceives of close-ups like Dreyer? It's easy to imagine the close-up as an easy, and even lazy, shortcut to emotional resonance. But a second viewing reminds me just how much work went into every shot - the angle of the face, and the framing as well. Faces don't always dominate the entire screen - they commonly hide away in the lower right corner, or even peek up from below. The angles are dramatic, and the bits of set that appear around each shot never seem less than fully intentional. (Famously, Dreyer had an enormous and expensive set built, but didn't use a single establishing shot.)
Joan of Arc is a film that finds its meaning in contradiction. There's a contradiction between Joan's crippling fear and overwhelming emotion, and the surprisingly clever, and even intellectual responses to difficult theological conundrums. There's a contradiction in a film that's based entirely on transcripts of a trial, where most of the dialogue isn't conveyed. And to center it all, there's the existential contradiction, of a deeply religious film that doesn't shy away from the cruel fates and tragedies of God's chosen ones.
Is God present in Passion of Joan of Arc? If so, He's not to be found in the external world. He's to be found in Joan's eyes. In this film, the human is divine.
Year: 1928
Run-time: 1 hr 26 min
Source: Amazon Video
So many of the films so early on this list feel full of promise - it is genuinely fun to see certain editing tricks being worked out, or to see talented directors be the first to combine two genres or invent new ones.
The Passion of Joan of Arc is an incredible film, but it also feels like a dead end. Certainly, that's literally true for its main character. But I can't imagine a film even remotely like it being made today. How could a digitally shot film create the same bizarre texture that each mostly-white frame of this picture has? How could a modern sound film simulate the effect that Joan's whispered replies has to a room full of angry inquisitors?
And, of course, will there ever be another director who conceives of close-ups like Dreyer? It's easy to imagine the close-up as an easy, and even lazy, shortcut to emotional resonance. But a second viewing reminds me just how much work went into every shot - the angle of the face, and the framing as well. Faces don't always dominate the entire screen - they commonly hide away in the lower right corner, or even peek up from below. The angles are dramatic, and the bits of set that appear around each shot never seem less than fully intentional. (Famously, Dreyer had an enormous and expensive set built, but didn't use a single establishing shot.)
Joan of Arc is a film that finds its meaning in contradiction. There's a contradiction between Joan's crippling fear and overwhelming emotion, and the surprisingly clever, and even intellectual responses to difficult theological conundrums. There's a contradiction in a film that's based entirely on transcripts of a trial, where most of the dialogue isn't conveyed. And to center it all, there's the existential contradiction, of a deeply religious film that doesn't shy away from the cruel fates and tragedies of God's chosen ones.
Is God present in Passion of Joan of Arc? If so, He's not to be found in the external world. He's to be found in Joan's eyes. In this film, the human is divine.
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