Rating: 
Summary: Maria Falconetti is Joan of Arc!
Review: The Passion of Joan of Arc I found to be very powerful and well made. I think the close-ups helped you identify with Joan more and made it feel like you were wittnessing an actual part of history. Maria Falconetti who played Joan was fantastic for someone who was a comic actress. It's really one of the best performances I ever seen. If they had awards for actors back then she definetely deserved one. I mean she not only gives a realistic performace but she must have been a good sport as well. I mean they poke a hole in her arm and blood gushes out and it really happens, was no effect. I doubt any actress now would agree to that unless they were offered millions of dollars. Maybe if they were offered that much they still wouldn't do it. The most recent telling of Joan of Arc called the Messenger was no where near as good as this one. This one only takes place mostly in court and doesn't have the battle scenes and we don't get to know Joan before her trial but it's still great. It didn't need any fancy special effects, it's the actors and the close-ups that make it effective. The close-ups and acting make you feel like you're looking at a real event taking place. All their expressions are just perfect. The movie is so well done that it has the feel as if someone went in time with a video camera and taped Joan's trial. The movie is just a very realistic experience. The music that was composed for the movie in 1985 even makes the film more compelling. I'm not sure why they didn't edit that in with the movie when they put it on dvd though. It fits the movie very well. In the movie the judges are portrayed as un-human and evil. When Joan says that they were sent by the devil, you agree with her. It actually feels as if she's in hell. They act as if they are strong believers in god but it's Joan who I really believed was a strong believer. She was such a strong believer that she gives up her life for god. She felt that signing a paper admitting that her visions came from the devil was the wrong thing to do and that it was a sin to sign it. She didn't deserve to be executed at all though. Even if she was crazy and didn't really see visions was no reason to kill her. Before she's executed she's put through a lot as well. She's tormented and laughed at and it's just cruel and un-human how she was treated. So yes I agreed with her, if anyone was sent by the devil it was them. The look of Joan gives you the feel that you are looking at a saint. She has a glow to her, even when she's crying. Falconetti really was perfect, she had all the right expressions at the right times. I really believed she was Joan of Arc.
Rating:
Summary: Two Masterpieces in One!
Review: As a college student back in the late '70s--having accidentally come across the silent film "Orphans of the Storm" on a show called "The Silent Years" on PBS, hosted by former silent film actress Lilian Gish--I was smitten by the genre and set out to learn as much as I could about silent films. I remember coming across a still of Mlle. Falconetti's face from Thomas Dreyer's "The Passion of Joan of Arc" in a book about the silent era and feeling terribly sad because there was no known copy of the film at that time. Twenty years later, her face was still burned into my memory when I (again accidentally) came across this film on video (I have since purchased it on DVD). Somehow, I had missed the news that a copy of the film had been discovered in 1981! I was so thrilled (although somewhat annoyed that I hadn't known about it sooner!), I viewed the film as soon as I got home and was instantly floored. And on top of this magnificent discovery was Richard Einhorn's oratorio!!! Wow!!!!!!
It is hard for me to describe my reaction to this film and the music inspired by it. Suffice it to say five stars simply does not do it justice.
I will also say this: My 14-year-old daughter, a typical American teenager in every way, was glued to this beautiful movie from beginning to end when I turned it on. After I got the DVD, I have often played the audio portion without the images because they are so powerful. One day as the oratorio was playing, I noticed my daughter appeared to be upset about something. When I asked her about this, she replied, and I quote: "I'm okay. It's just that sometimes something can be so beautiful, it hurts."
What more can be said? ;-)
(By the way, does anyone know what else Mr. Einhorn has written? I have not been able to find any other recordings of his music.)
Rating:
Summary: A BRILLIANT EXAMPLE THAT MOVIE CAN BE ART
Review: I`ve heard about this movie for years and about 20 years ago(thought lost)the film was discovered here in Norway... U know... Most of us have been exposed 2 silent movies and though some films have their magic moments(The Battlehip Potempkin - "the shooting at the stairs" for example), the silent movie is a thing o the past. Not so this film by Danish genius Carl Th, Dreyer. U know... u shouldn`t kick around the term "genius", but here it is deservdely so. The cameraangels, the choice of actors, the set-decorations - THE CHOICES - are indeed still spellbounding. U can feel Jeanne`s fright and the times God caresses her soul by the cheer brilliance of Maria Falconetti(her only film - she died in 1946)and her expressive face. It is a standing speaking monument about how some evil group of people, stand up and do criminal horrors to their mankind and act on behalf of religious purposes they supposedly have no power over... It is a comment on ALL criminal behaviour - a goverment, state, people of authoroty do to miniority groups or a singel person... It i s hard to sit through. Even after 3 or 4 minutes. But u can`t take your eyes from it and - I THINK - it is a film - IMPOSSIBLE 2 forget....
Rating: 
Summary: An apparently brilliant restoration of a rare treasure
Review: I read the hype on this re-discovery a few years ago, and was curious about seeing it. As a fan of silent films and having some knowledge of religion ... Not disappointed! Artsy (direction-wise), melodramatic (in a positive, theatrical sense), atmospheric (particularly the oratorio used to score it), and historical (based on transcripts from the "trial"). The only things I didn't like were the historical truths it portrayed (a judgemental and spiritually bankrupt panel of monk-judges, a dreamy, inarticulate defendant). A must for religious people -- the filmmaker draws obvious parallels between the passion of Christ and that of Jeanne D'Arc. A must for film history/silent/art house fans for its directorial style and spare ambience. DVD also features documentaries on the restoration and the music. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless--An Absolute "Must See"
Review: This film has been on my "wish list" since I saw it on Turner Classic Movies' "Silent Sunday Night"...they showed it after the restored version with the Einhorn/Anonymous 4 soundtrack had been released. I have seen few films ("talkies" included) that can match the artistry--or the sheer spirituality--of this film. (I predict a "Listmania" in my future...!) In TCM's introduction and/or exit commentary by Richard Osbourne it was stated that the actress who played Joan (Maria Falconetti) basically disappeared from the screen after this performance. I can almost see why--how could she or anyone equal (let alone top!) this performance?
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Films Ever, Silent or No
Review: I was flipping through the stations on my TV not long ago when I was brought to a halt by one of the most arresting faces I have ever seen on the screen. It didn't take too long for me to realize that I was watching an old silent movie. And it took even less time for me to realize that, despite my almost complete unfamiliarity with silent movies, I didn't care. I was watching one of the most amazing performances ever put to film. As I only caught the last part of the film on TV, I quickly found the DVD and ordered it. I learned the amazing history of this film by Carl Dreyer and that the name placed on that incredible face is Renee Falconetti. I watched the film twice in quick succession in both formats offered by the DVD: first, in silence and then with the beautiful score written by Richard Einhorn. Both are powerful though I admit to being deeply moved by this relatively recent score. As I said before, I am by no means an expert on silent film, having seen only a handful of them. However, this is one of the most amazing pieces of filmmaking I have ever seen, silent or otherwise. Dreyer's direction is amazing and intense and captures Falconetti's unequaled performance very well. This is a film that should be seen.
Rating:
Summary: All those faces, those feelings...
Review: When one says of a silent film that it's "astounding", one generally means it in a distant, appreciative sort of way -- like, "very impressive for its time." This film was actually astounding. Here's why, in ascending order of importance. First, the script follows very closely the actual transcripts of Joan's trial, which transcripts, apparently, are quite accurate. If so, that must have been one of the most memorable interrogations of all time -- the back-and-forth between Joan and her inquisitors is stunning. Second, the set design is simultaneously naturalistic and avant-garde -- the interior spaces are stark, stark, stark, so we feel like we're in a cross between "The Name of the Rose" and a Beckett play. Really creates a sense, not so much of "authentic medievaldom", but of "timeless medievaldom". Third, Dreyer's amazing direction. Not only is there a whole pile of striking camera angles and moves, but there's a basic "rule" running through the film that 95% of the shots of the principle characters are in close-up. Very few establishing shots or medium shots. This also has an avant-garde flavor to it -- a sense of a director really creating his own film language. The effect of staying in close-up for pretty much the entire film -- which focuses almost exclusively on Joan's interrogation -- is that you're absolutely aware of *every* microsecond of *every* character's feelings and reactions to what's happening, as if it's unfolding in real-time. Hence, the viewer's level of identification with everyone, but especially Joan, is so high it's almost excruciating. Finally, and most importantly, there's the actress who plays Joan, Maria Falconetti -- herself active in avant-garde theater in France at the time. (A bit player in the film is Antonin Artaud, the extremely influential avant-garde playwright and theorist of the theater.) I'd heard several critics say that Falconetti's performance as Joan may be the single greatest film performance of all time. After having seen the film, I feel I can say, at least, that it's easily, *easily* one of the best (heck, I'll say *the* best, until I can think of another) I personally have ever seen. Since it's the centerpiece of the film, I won't ruin it with details. Suffice to say, the question of whether one thinks Joan actually heard the voice of God, or thinks she was probably a paranoid schizophrenic (as I do), is rendered *totally irrelevant* by Falconetti's performance, which is not merely readable both ways, but is so passionate, so subtle, that it just doesn't matter. Suffice also to say that within the first five minutes of the film, I had tears in my eyes -- and tear-filled they stayed for the film's remainder. The story of the film makes you ashamed of what human beings can do to each other -- but the film itself, as a triumphant representation of the whole range of human behavior, from the loathesome snickering torturers to the arrogant (but divided) inquisitors to the anguished and passionate Joan, makes you proud of what humans can create. It's one of those films that redeems the medium. It's that good.
Rating: 
Summary: A Cross to Bear
Review: Watching this film for the first time, I was often reminded of the numerous occasions where reviewers threw around the word 'classic' while describing this movie. Certainly, it is a classic, despite its somewhat confused history (Criterion still can't decide if this print was found in a Danish or a Norwegian Mental Institution), but I found it rather overbearing and overrated, especially considering that the film has been done to death by other film-makers over the last few years. I have nothing against Maria Falconetti but she is no way the superb actress that the other reviewers here claim her to be. At best, she resembles a waif on too much prozac. At other times her performance reminded me of my grandmother when she stays up too long. This is not a good thing. While countless film historians have all praised her performance as being one of the 'greatest ever filmed' I must take issue with the statement. Collective oohing and aahing over her performance doesn't make it better - nor does it manage to evade the fact that this is a weak film, with almost no backbone, and almost no class to merit its' 'classic silent film' stamp. I'd sooner watch the far superior 'Andrei Rublev' (also by Criterion) to know what true art is. Criterion, unfailingly, has done a fine job with the DVD, giving it such loving treatment and respect - far too much respect that a film of this mediocre calibre deserves. Doubtless there are certain lovers of this film reading this review, and I implore you - do five minute long shots of an actress' bored eyes in black and white constitute 'art'? If it does, then I'm certainly in the wrong. Thankfully, there is a camp that has realized upon first glance that a film of this sort is indeed the art-house pretentious whitewash farmherd drivel that has propelled the 'foreign film' circuit into such a billion dollar industry. While some of those releases such as 'Children of Paradise' and 'L'Avventura' deserve the highest praise, we also have to suffer such interminable excuses for film-making such as this piece of fluff. Not that the film is totally without its' merits. In some sequences, the lead actress looks hungry and disinterested in her surroundings - to an extent where you begin to feel sorry for her. Maria's poor performance in this role is doomed once you see that she has nothing in common with the character she is playing. Joan was a teenager - Maria looks close to 40. And while Joan was certainly a driven woman, Maria looks driven only to the point of finishing the shoot and going back home to the French riviera or whatever. I have not seen such a callously made and overhyped film in forever, and that is about the only novelty value this movie holds for me. Criterion's transfer is impeccable as always, and we are led to believe that this version has 'extra footage'. You can also watch it with music on or off. A freshly ordered symphony plays in the background - nothing special, just your usual elevator muzak - but the ad inserts provided with the DVD insist that you get excited about it as its supposedly a wonderful new event. There are a few special features, including a very nicely designed menu. A film of this sort doesn't really hold many suprises as you already know whats going to happen, it terms of the storyline. But when the sad event does occur, you can't help but feel a sense of relief. To his credit, Luc Besson crafted a far more watchable 'Joan of Arc' with his then wife Milla Jovovich, a while back. That was art. This is just a poor black and white arthouse effort at gaining a few good reviews. Just because a movie is old does not make it a classic. It is about time reviewers of art films woke up to that fact.
Rating:
Summary: The best movie of Saint Joan ever....
Review: This is one of the few times I can say, read the editors review...it is right on! It is hard for me to believe that such a movie that is so moving and well filmed was produced in1928. Words are not needed. Maria Falconetti fantastic acting, via showing emotion is has to be the best performance in a silent film of all time. Or, I should say all film, for you feel and understand what she is going through. After seeing this, you will wonder why she is not the most famous actress of all time. Without even one word being spoken. You have to own this film. And feel what Joan of Arc went through while on trial by the Church.
Rating:
Summary: Too much fiction but otherwise outstanding.
Review: I must recommend this movie. The acting is outstanding. I only wish the movie had less fiction. For example the ending, after the burning of Joan, is not even close to the truth. However, much of the movie is close to the truth. I don't know why directors feel they can improve on the facts with Joan of Arc. In her case the truth is amazing enough and substuting fiction for fact is not an improvement. However, no movie about Joan of Arc is void of fiction.
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