The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
"La passion de Jeanne d'Arc" (original title)

A chronicle of the trial of Jeanne d'Arc on charges of heresy, and the efforts of her ecclesiastical jurists to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.

Director:

Carl Theodor Dreyer

Writers:

Joseph Delteil, Carl Theodor Dreyer

Stars:

Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Maria Falconetti	...	Jeanne d'Arc (as Melle Falconetti)
Eugene Silvain	...	Évêque Pierre Cauchon (Bishop Pierre Cauchon) (as Eugène Silvain)
André Berley	...	Jean d'Estivet
Maurice Schutz	...	Nicolas Loyseleur
Antonin Artaud	...	Jean Massieu
Michel Simon	...	Jean Lemaître
Jean d'Yd	...	Guillaume Evrard
Louis Ravet	...	Jean Beaupère (as Ravet)
Armand Lurville	...	Juge (Judge) (as André Lurville)
Jacques Arnna	...	Juge (Judge)
Alexandre Mihalesco	...	Juge (Judge)
Léon Larive	...	Juge (Judge)

Storyline

The sufferings of a martyr, Jeanne D'Arc (1412-1431). Jeanne appears in court where Cauchon questions her and d'Estivet spits on her. She predicts her rescue, is taken to her cell, and judges forge evidence against her. In her cell, priests interrogate her and judges deny her the Mass. Threatened first in a torture chamber and then offered communion if she will recant, she refuses. At a cemetery, in front of a crowd, a priest and supporters urge her to recant; she does, and Cauchon announces her sentence. In her cell, she explains her change of mind and receives communion. In the courtyard at Rouen castle, she burns at the stake; the soldiers turn on the protesting crowd.

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Plot Keywords:

judge | suffering | heresy | trial | torture chamber | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

25 October 1928 (France)

Also Known As:

The Passion of Joan of Arc

Filming Locations:

Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Société générale des films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 88 min (1952 re-release) 82 min (restored DVD)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ranked #1 on the Toronto International Film Festival's Essential 100 list published in 2009.

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Goofs

The soldiers wear helmets with modern chin strap fasteners (likely WW1 British infantry helmets). Those helmets could be a deliberate anachronism though.

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Quotes

Juge: How old are you?
Jeanne d'Arc: [counts on her fingers] Nineteen... I think.

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Connections

Featured in Historia del cine: Epoca muda (1983)

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Soundtracks

"Voices of Light"
Written by Richard Einhorn
The score used in the 1995 version

User Reviews

timeless in every sense

I saw this a few months ago on the big screen, just after Nosferatu, another silent classic. Both showings were supported by a live organ play, which has been composed directly for the movie, and which suited perfectly. I had seen Nosferatu before, but i didn´t know anything about `Jeanne`, and so i was in no way prepared for this overwhelming, soul-rapturing experience.

My eyes were immediately glued to the screen. Unfortunately i had missed the first minutes, so it started for me with the first (?) court scene. The camera wandered through the faces of the court members, circled and focussed on Jeanne´s face. So beautiful, naked, strong and defenseless! I could rave on the technical perfection of this film, it´s clever editing, innovative and gorgeous cinematography, proper historical settings and pure storytelling. Carl Theodor Dreyer created a masterpiece. But the most outstanding feature of this silent are the performances; Maria Falconetti delivers simply the best performance of all times, and i can´t remember of any ´corny` overacting, which distracts most silent movies from the modern viewer, even the accepted classics. `La passion de Jeanne d´Arc´ is purest cinematic art, timeless in every sense.