Rating: 
Summary: A Timeless Masterpiece.
Review: "The Passion Of Joan Of Arc" is undeniably one of the greatest of all films. It is a masterpiece not only of the silent era, but of powerful filmmaking as a whole. It proves that great art does not lose its effect or value with age. It stands with works like Luis Buñuel's "Un Chien Andalou" and F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu" and Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" as one of the principle and important films of the silent era. Carl Dreyer's brilliant directing creates a claustrophobic intensity as we feel the pressure on Joan as the tribunal of priests decide her fate. Maria Falconetti gives one of the greatest performances on film of all time, if not the best, looking at her here is seeing eyes that will never leave your memory. She completely lets us FEEL this character, this mystic woman who is being judged. The editing and camera work create a visceral experience filled with true emotions. And the addition of the "Voices Of Light" score is brilliant because it adds to the film's hypnotic effect. "The Passion Of Joan Of Arc" also feels incredibly real and does actually serve as a breathing, living document. It is a marvelous work of art, filled with moments you will not forget. Any film enthusiast, anyone who truly has a deep appreciation for the cinema should, must see it.
Rating:
Summary: Overwhelming
Review: This film is absolutely amazing. The reviews here and elsewhere sounded too good to be true, especially given this is a silent film, made in the 1920's - frankly, I thought it would be an interesting 'educational' experience to see it, but figured it would also be a bit trying, even a bit boring. It's simply spellbinding. The meditation on faith, on punishment, is as moving as anything I've ever seen on film (including Bergman & Tarkovsky). The composition of the shots is startling, a phenomenal artistic sensibility at work. Falconetti's performance and Dreyer's direction are both astounding and wholly involving. And the music by Richard Einhorn is a fitting accompaniment (although, for mine, the images are so overpowering they rightfully dominate the score). If you haven't seen this film then stop reading these reviews and buy the video - this must be one of the great films of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Closest to the historical Joan of Arc
Review: Okay, we had an insane Joan of Arc take, a better child Joan take, a classy, 'I refuse to get dirty', Joan of Arc, but now we have one based on actual historical documents. The score is set perfecly to the movie. Even though it is silent, the actors facial expressions and the score are enough to understand it. Be warned: this is NOT a war movie, there are no battles, but it is a dark, humanitarian, historical film. Maria Falconetti brings extraordinary depth to the role, better than modern day actresses. It also explains how she became St. Joan. Excellent film.
Rating:
Summary: HERES A TRUE FACT ABOUT THE MOVIE...
Review: I saw this some time ago, but a professor that I saw it with told me this... The scene when they think Joan is going nuts so they decide (as they did in those olden times) to "bleed" her by opening a vein because the excess of blood was making her crazy: They used no special effects. Instead, they took the understudy to Joan's part and actually cut her vein. You'll notice how blood does not shoot all about like when veins usually get cut in movies, but simply pulses and blubs out of her arm, it's pretty sick and its real blood. Anyway, the movie is excellent, especially Joan, and also the way that they show the interrogators.
Rating:
Summary: Restored herstorical trial
Review: First off read the editors review, that sums it up. I just would like to add that the film blows you away with its musical score as performed by Annonymous Four. The cinematography and all aspects of film making are of the highest caliber and the music just further mesmerizes and adds to a fantastic performance by Renee Falconetti as Joan. The judges on behalf of the church are very evil and sinister looking, the camera work accentuates this masterfully. One judge has his typically monk fashion do looking demonic with hair ends from the side pointing straight up like horns. It is brilliant characterizations like this and the use of close ups that leads the viewer into what must have been an insane trial. Not to be missed by movie buffs, or anyone with an appreciation of fine film making before color and sound. Actually the musical score does more probably than a dialogue could have, the subtitles are fine and the restoration is like watching a "new" movie. Don't miss this brilliant vision by Carl Dreyer, a true masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Great Films, Period.
Review: There is nothing I can add the wonderful comments made here, criterion have done a great job.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest films ever made.
Review: I would place Carl Theodore Dreyer's 'The Passion Of Joan Of Arc' right alongside of Eisenstein's 'The Battleship Potemkin' and DW Griffith's 'The Birth Of A Nation' as one of the most defining moments in the heritage of film. Told almost entirely in close-ups, Dreyer has created a film so powerful that one cannot watch it and remain unmoved. Renee Falconetti's performance as the frightened but stern Joan of Arc remains one of the greatest performances ever captured on film, able to express the most complex emotion through subtle expression. Her eyes tell the story. The DVD edition of the film is spectacular. I have seen at least three different versions of the film but i have never seen it like this. The digital restoration is magnificant and the optional audio score (Richard Einhorn's 'Voice of Light' - a beautiful orchestral and choral work inspired by the film itself) matches the work perfectly. Also included is a brief history on the film itself, including examination of it's many different versions. Even if the DVD contained nothing more then the film itself it would still be a must-buy. 'The Passion Of Joan Of Arc' is simply the most shattering and compelling silent work ever made. A true cinema milestone. You will be forever changed by this film.
Rating:
Summary: 24 frames a second of pure passion
Review: I originally encountered this film on videotape in one of its massacred incarnations. Not only was the film quality poor but the videotape seemed to be mastered at 20 frames per second - hence making everything appear to move in slow motion. *POOF* Enter Criterion - Remastered with a new soundtrack from a new (yes NEW) print discovered in the closet of a Danish Mental Health Hospital. It was thought that the original version (the Dreyer version) had been lost, and indeed previous versions had been destroyed. This may or may not be "the directors cut" or the definitive version, we will never know. What it is however, is a pristine, clear film which has been lovingly restored to claim its rightful place in the pantheon of great film making. Falconetti, who renders an exquisite portrayal of Joan was, as the story goes, denied by Dreyer to wear makeup during the filming and when she later saw the finished product was horrified by the raw appearance of her image. It is that very raw quality which pervades the entire film and forces a certain canvas of realism that makes Joan an experience of brutal beauty and the Einhorn soundtrack lends an audio layer which melds perfectly with the images (all remastered at 24 frames a second.) If you saw it on video, you didn't really see it. If you've never seen it, buy it and indulge in some cinematic rapture.
Rating: 
Summary: Um, excuse me (you extremely long-winded) guys...
Review: ... but the fact that this film is "projected," or "mastered" if you will, at a speed in excess of the speed at which it was photographed makes it DAMN NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO WATCH! I mean, come on, is this the damn KEYSTONE COPS or something?! I was under the impression that most people who know a little bit about film (the Criterion people, perchance?) know of the necessity of accommodating for this speed difference. Until someone pulls their head out of their projection room, and does this film right, it will be impossible for me to judge its effectiveness or lack thereof.
Rating:
Summary: I could write 10,000 words of praise for this masterpiece!!!
Review: Any arguments that film can never truly be an art film, end, after one views The Passion of Joan of Arc. Masterpiece is so mis-used these days a new word, to be used on perhaps only a handful of films needs to be coined so I can emphasize this is among the finest films you will ever experience in your life. It's a silent film. A stark, stylistic, unique film. A film as timeless as the finest opera or ballet performance anyone has ever seen. A film that broke the still developing rules of film-making in 1928 and still feels innovative, daring and impassioned today.A film any lover or student of film must not miss seeing The images of the faces from this film are ones you will never forget. Whether you have seen the previously available murky video taken from a damaged print of the film or the beautiful and meticulously restored version recently released on a Criterion Series DVD. There is one face, above all others, however, that will be remembered alongside any of the faces imprisoned on the screen within your head and that is the face of Renee Maria Falconetti. And Pauline Kael was right when she said: "It may be the finest performance ever recorded on film.'' Carl Theodor Dreyer (1889-1968), the Danish director was preparing a large budgeted film on the life of Joan of Arc in 1927. He became fascinated however with the actual preserved transcripts of Joan's 1431 trial and began constructing a film that would include them in its narrative. He at one point was seriously considering American Silent Film star Lilian Gish for the role of Joan. The French were already outraged that the Danish Dreyer would be directing a film about their recently Sainted Joan, but to have an American actress portray Saint Joan? What an outrage!!! Dreyer let the rumors persist even after he had made a little known theater performer who specialized in light comedy and cabaret shows, his Joan of Arc. Falconetti would become immortal (though she would never make another film, the ambitious theater company she started would become a financial failure and she would die in Rio Di Janero in 1946). Falconetti, who wore no make-up, and was filmed in sometimes unflinching close-ups and would become one of the most famous faces, one of the most praised actresses of all time, for one film. One film. This one. And she would never make another one. Director Dreyer would release the film without credits, and without a chosen music score to be played along with it's showing. The film has almost no establishing shots (it does have one of the torture room which still lacks enough of a perspective to give the viewer a conventional idea of room size however) and rely's almost entirely on stark close-ups of some of the most interesting and fascinating faces you have ever seen in any painting, photograph, or on film. Faces without make-up. Dreyer forbid the use of make-up on the film. It may sound positively Dogme95 to some. It was 1928. The film is based with a great deal of meticulous accuracy on the 29 cross examinations which led to Joan of Arc being burned as a witch at the stake in 1431. The film avoids any mention of witchcraft or the occult however. The film also condenses the 29 cross examinations into approximately 5, which is the number of reels the film runs (at 82 minutes). The film also ends with a riot that never actually occurred. The film concerns itself with the trial of Joan and only the trial and results of the trial. There is no mention or flashback of the illiterate farm-hand from Orleans, who dressed as a boy, led French troops into defeat of the British occupation forces. How she was captured by Frenchmen who were loyal to the British and made to stand trial. She was as the film shows, brought before a church court and charged with heresy. Joan believed she was the blessed daughter of God and had been inspired by heavenly visions. The church considered anyone who was certain they were going to heaven, to be a blasphemer. Anyone who did not need the church's blessing was undoubtedly possessed by Satan. Such people were ex-communicated, imprisoned and/or burned at the stake. And so the defiant 19 year old girl, was made to stand trial and endure torture before being burned at the stake. She would become a recognized Saint in approximately 1914. 14 years prior to this film being made. Passion was one of more than a dozen silent films made about Joan of Arc. And some were well made exciting films that showed Joan bravely leading the French troops against the British. This film did not. This film was an extremely stylized film consisting mainly of close-ups. Over 1,500 edits were made in the film. The average film of the day consisted of 500 to 600 edits. A large budget was spent on the construction of a huge set, the largest set ever built at the time Yet in the film, Dreyer never shows us but glimpses of the magnificent set he had spent millions on constructing. There is nothing conventional about the film. Not then and not now. Dreyer uses stark close-ups and often breaks the rules of crossing camera sight lines to try and have us understand at least partially the fear and unbalance the 19 year old Joan was feeling when dozens of men, church leaders, politicians, and British soldiers, were interrogating her or trying to force her to sign a confession. Everything about the interiors is stark and plain. Plain curved white walls which make even Dreyer's medium shots feel like close ups. Windows that are un-even and of slightly imperfect shapes (shades of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). Sometimes the bars in the window seem to resemble crosses, and sometimes crosses are seen as shadows on a floor or on a wall. Dreyer wants us not just to feel the oppression and fear of Joan, he wants us inside her head. He wants us to somehow hear her thoughts. We do. To make it all work, Dreyer had to have the perfect face, and had to be able to get a superior performance from a talented actress. Falconetti. Dreyer painstakingly over the course of a long six months shoot, extracted the performance he needed to have from Falconetti. He didn't let her or other actors use music to help inspire them as they performed (an accepted practice used by most film directors of the time). Dreyer didn't want the actors in this film to be 'performing' or 'acting'. He wanted something more pure and more natural. He forced Falconetti to shear her hair for the film. He made his actors shave the tops of their heads, because that was the style of the 1430's, even though most of the actors would be wearing skull caps and the audience would never know if the tops of their heads were shaven or not. Often he would excuse all but a few technicians and himself from the set to work with Falconetti , so she would give him the perfect expression he was looking for. Together they would watch dailies, so she would completely understand what he wanted from her. Dreyer was a perfectionist and wanted realism. People who worked with him often considered him not just intense, but insane. ( His best known films also include 1932's Vampyr and 1964's Gertrud). It's impossible to know what reaction this stark, demanding, unique, stylistic film had on the audiences of its day. Though one might imagine its power was even greater to an audience that was not raised with easy access to filmed and video taped entertainments. Critics quickly declared it a work of art, and even those who complained of it's over-use of close-ups rarely denied the film possessed an emotional power few films or stage plays could equal. It's a film which forces the viewer to experience a frightening perspective The perspective of a frightened, young, 19 year old religious martyr as she defiantly holds her ground against the nightmarish faces of her overly-righteous judges and tormentors. As Dreyer breaks the rules and violates even the camera's sight lines, the wall that separates the images on the screen, even these stylized stark black and white silent film images breaks apart and we can feel the fear, terror and coldness that Falconetti as Joan is experiencing. It was written, directed and edited by Carl Dreyer (though some of the original ideas in the screenplay Dreyer once contemplated filming remain). It was photographed by Rudolph Mate with art direction by Hermann Warm. The film was re-edited a few times to appease the Catholic Church and also some censors during the late 20's and early 1930's. Dreyer who had hoped his film would be shown to a wide audience was disheartened his masterpiece was only appreciated by a small audience of rich entertainment patrons. Dreyer's original cut of the film was actually seen publicly only a few dozen times. The original elements were thought to be lost to fire long ago. So Dreyer himself went back and re-made the film from alternate cuts that were still available. But these versions of the film were sometimes cut, and became worn and deteriorated. Previous videos had been made from various pirated copies of the film. However, in 1981 an original Dreyer supervised ed
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