Passion of Joan of Arc, The

Passion of Joan of Arc, The, motion picture about the trial of Joan of Arc, based on historical transcripts from the actual trial. Released in 1928, this critically acclaimed French silent film was directed by Danish director and screenwriter Carl-Theodor Dreyer. Joan, an illiterate peasant girl, gathers and leads a French army against British invaders, with dramatic success due to the young woman’s strategic genius. She is later captured and tried for heresy by a British-influenced French ecclesiastical court. The powerful woman resists the instruments of torture until she can stand no more, then she has a vision of Christ’s crown of thorns and declares that she will triumph in the end. When she is burned at the stake and martyred, the French people begin to rise up against their oppressors. This film uses close-ups and montage effects to achieve a feeling of intimate emotional relationships between the suffering characters.

Alternative Title

• La passion de Jeanne d'Arc

Director

• Carl-Theodor Dreyer

Cast

• Renée Maria Falconetti (Joan of Arc)
• Eugene Sylvain (Bishop Pierre Cauchon)
• Maurice Schutz (Nicholas Loyseleur)
• Michel Simon (Jean Lemaitre)
• Antonin Artaud (Jean Massieu)
• Louis Ravet (Jean Beaupere)
• Andre Berley (Jean d'Estivet)
• Jean d'Yd (Guillaume Erard)

Trivia

• Director Dreyer originally planned to cast Lillian Gish as the title character but instead discovered street comedian Falconetti. This was Falconetti’s only film role, but many critics regard it as one of the great performances in cinema.
• This film was believed lost for many years until a complete print was found in the early 1980s in a closet of a Norwegian mental institution.