The Passion Of | Joan Of Arc -1928- Criterion 108...

Dreyer’s direction is radical even by today’s standards. Abandoning the sweeping landscapes of contemporary epics, he constructed a claustrophobic, abstract castle set and shot almost entirely in extreme close-ups. The film’s visual language is brutally simple: walls of white plaster, tilted angles, and the raw, tear-streaked terrain of Falconetti’s face. You don’t watch her suffer; you inhabit her suffering. The film’s journey to preservation is as dramatic as its subject matter. Upon its 1928 premiere in Copenhagen, the original negative was considered a masterpiece. However, after a disastrous fire at the studio, the original master was believed lost forever.

★★★★★ (Essential)

Available from The Criterion Collection as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. Note for 4K users: While Criterion has since released a 4K UHD edition (2023), the 1080p Blu-ray remains a reference-grade disc that holds up perfectly for those without 4K projection. The Passion of Joan of Arc -1928- Criterion 108...

In the vast history of cinema, there are films that entertain, films that instruct, and then there is Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) — a film that transcends the medium to become a purely spiritual experience. Nearly a century after its controversial premiere, the film stands as a monument of silent cinema, largely thanks to the meticulous restoration and preservation efforts by The Criterion Collection , which has released the film in a stunning 1080p Blu-ray edition. The Miracle of the Close-Up To discuss The Passion of Joan of Arc is to discuss the face of Renée Jeanne Falconetti. In what is widely considered the greatest performance in film history, Falconetti plays the Maid of Orléans not as a warrior or a hero, but as a vulnerable, tortured soul caught between divine conviction and human cruelty. Dreyer’s direction is radical even by today’s standards