This is yet another silent movie that has an inventiveness to it that most contemporary films lack. Dreyer experiments with angles and perspectives, with light, with close-ups and frames. In contrast with most movies, this is an overwhelming cinematic experience. There is no need for 3D glasses to lend depth to the images. The passion of Jeanne d'Arc is a stunning movie about heresy, divine revelation, faith and religious hypocracy, about psychological blackmail and one individual against an institution in which nobody speaks for themselves, in their own name, but in the name of tradition, even in the name of God. Dreyer strips away the political background and if you ask me, that is not a problem. He makes his own Jeanne d'Arc and I find the film's relation to the "real" Jean D'arc uninteresting. Dreyer made a good decision when he based the film exclusively on the trial documents and the excecution of Jeanne d'Arc. (I remember being unimpressed by Luc Besson's action-packed movie from the late 90's that starts with images of the English destroying Jeanne's village and raping the women etc.) What everyone remember Dreyer's film for is his unique images of the human face. And it's not the close-ups in themselves that have this striking effect. The story itself takes place in the expressions of these faces, against the backdrop of minimalist, but carefully structured sets. No trinkets.
What is rather surprising about this film is the strong anti-institutional message. The representatives of the Church are depicted extremely harshly, as blabbering cowards, puffed up by self-righteousness.
(According to Wikipedia, Cat power made music for several screenings of this film in 1999 ... I am quite curious what kind of music she made ...)
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