Amazingly, there have been a few remakes of Carl Theodor Dreyer's passionate, powerful film, "The Passion of Joan of Arc." I say amazingly because I am hard pressed to think anyone could make a superior film or come up with a better actress than Maria Renee Falconetti as the tortured, wounded, saintly Joan. Ingrid Bergman was not bad but let's face it: Falconetti is reason enough to believe that saints do exist.
Dreyer's film begins with the inquisition of Joan at her trial after being captured. Essentially, she is a farm girl who becomes a warrior. She is questioned in regards to her faith and where it stems from and if she feels God put her in her place to save France or if she is the Devil's handiwork. The inquisitors include mostly judges and orthodox theologians who watch every word and gesture Joan makes with relish. They try to provoke her, and they foolishly think that an illiterate nineteen year-old would have little faith or much understanding of her actions. They are surprised by her responses to say the least.
When Joan is asked who taught her the Lord's prayer, she sheds tears at the remembrance of her mother. When asked the most difficult question, if she is in a state of grace, she responds that she does not know if she is, but she hopes God will grant her grace and salvation. This is naturally considered blasphemy by the judges.
The undying power of "The Passion of Joan of Arc" is Carl Dreyer's attentive direction and superbly mobile camera, showing endless tracking shots and exquisite close-ups. There are lots of canted angles and little sense of space, mainly because it is constricted by the use of several close-ups. Most of these close-ups are of the judges, often showing them as monstrous and ugly when questioning or spitting at poor Joan. There are of course many extreme close-ups of Joan, sometimes allowing for lots of headroom to accentuate the high ceiling of the cathedrals. This kind of composition is rightfully disorienting, and it works in conveying Joan's own subjective disorientation. The visual language is incredible considering the film was made back in 1928, and it further establishes Dreyer as a principal artist of the silent film era and beyond with classic films like "Vampyr" and "Day of Wrath."
Of course, the majority of the film's success belongs to Maria Renee Falconetti as St. Joan, who never made another film since. She invigorates the sympathetic and pained soul of the martyred Joan as fully as anyone can imagine. Falconetti shows the enlightenment, the emotional wounds, the startled eyes as if hinting that she had seen God, the flowing tears, the sly smiles, and the gradual acceptance of her fate. This Joan suffers greatly as we see her faint while she stares at a wheel of spikes, and at another point, she is bled with a needle to cure a fever.
"Passion of Joan of Arc" is one of the greatest films ever made, as passionate and soulful a portrait of a scorned woman as you can imagine. Falconetti's performance is one of the most enlightening, on par with Gulietta Massina's work in "La Strada" - two of the foremost performances of the 20th century. Having seen the film three times, I confess that the restoration of this print, which includes illuminating music by Richard Einhorn titled "Voices of Light," adds enormously to the crescendo of the tragic finale that seals the fate of St. Joan. This is as vivid and human as films get.
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