Rating: 
Summary: POWERFUL FILMAKING!
Review: "The Passion of Joan of Arc" is one of the greatest silent films ever produced. The cinematography, directing, and editing are sensational. And for a silent film produced in 1928, it is exciting and fast-paced! The highlight of the film, however, is the stunning performance by Maria Falconetti as Jeanne D'Arc. She gives the character life through her eyes and facial expressions, and makes you feel sorrow as she prepared to die. I ask Milla Jovovich (from the historcially inaccurate revenge thriller "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc") if she could ever do what Falconetti did in this film! In my opinion, Falconetti would have won an Oscar if this had been an American-made film back then. Any fan of silent film and historical epics will want this film in their collections. Grade: A+
Rating:
Summary: I may not be religious, but this is a masterpiece still!
Review: I may not be religious, but I can tell a masterpiece of filmmaking when I see one. This movie is certainly that!Just because this is a silent film should be no reason for anybody to suspect that the pace of this film is slow and boring, quite the opposite. The film builds with great suspense which is almost unbroken throughout, making what could have been routine and uninteresting conversations in the hands of another director glow with life as he shows us in detail the faces, personalities, and motivations of the people who judge Joan of Arc; he gives us whispered words passed between the characters, the indignation on their faces when their will is refused, even the quiet, heartbreaking regret of one of the priests who condemns her, which comes much too late to be of any use. All this is done with incredibly imaginative camera angles and wonderful pacing. The composer of the music that goes with this film deserves as much credit as the director of TPoJoA, which is saying a lot! The orchestral + voices score to the movie is powerful, fascinating, and would be interesting to listen to on its own; combine it with the movie and the effect is astounding; it perfectly captures every mood shown in the movie, amplifying them twofold. The final scene in the movie was one of the most horrific scenes I've ever seen in a movie, rivaling the scene in Elem Klimov's "Come and See" (probably the most powerful war movie to come out of the USSR) where an entire Belorussian village is burnt to the ground with all of the inhabitants still inside. Certainly a movie that must be seen to be believed. It will have less significance for you if you are not religious, but all the same it should be seen. You will not be bored, neither by the movie nor by the accompanying score. Technically, this is a very good restoration; I only noticed very minor blemishes once or twice during the entire length of the film; the picture was clear otherwise. It does seem that it runs a little too fast at times, probably because the score was not long enough for it to run at a normal tempo. I think that this faster speed generally makes the movie more interesting to watch, especially for a modern audience, though there are times when it is really noticeable (when we see close-ups of Joan's face for example). Still, this is not often enough to spoil the film.
Rating:
Summary: Apocalypse Now!
Review: Well, this is certainly a film that can't be argued with. The Amazon reviews of this film have used up about every superlative there is. If ever a film screamed "classic", it has to be this one. I mean, damn, at one point the film was thought destroyed by fire, like Joan herself, only to be discovered in the closet of lunatic asylum - and in pristine condition, no less. Just as though God himself had placed the thing there for safe keeping. I surrender. The film is blessed.
I'll just add this for the perspective buyer that may be a bit intimidated by the bombast of the reviews: please don't assume this film will be like going to a required class. It truly is thrilling. The final scene, when Joan is burned, is one of the most gripping pieces of film-making I've ever scene. It builds and builds with quick edits, the camera suddenly moving like the eye of a terrified child, each image a bit more twisted and seared than the last, until finally you realize you are watching something mankind should not witness - the apocalypse descending on earth. As Kurtz would say, "The horror. The horror."
Worth the price of admission, wouldn't you say? --Mykal Banta
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