related to this product.
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Criterion Collection Spine #62)
Carl Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc is as truly mythic as any film ever shot, its artistic achievement rivaled by its turbulent history. The focal point of controversy when released in 1928, the original film was lost for a half-century until an intact copy of Dreyer's original version was recovered in the early '80s.
Seeing Joan of Arc today remains a cinematic revelation, its approach to storytelling, set design, editing, and especially cinematography (by Rudolph Mat?, who also shot Dreyer's visionary Vampyr) radical then, and still strikingly modern many decades later. Influenced by both German expressionist film and the French avant-garde, Dreyer's huge set was designed with asymmetrical doors, windows, and arches, through which Mat?'s camera moves along equally off-centered, even vertiginous, but fluid trajectories. Although the story is epic in its implications, the film is composed primarily of extreme close-ups, especially of Joan and her principal interrogator, Bishop Cauchon, and medium shots of small groups, often shot from low angles. Dreyer and Mat? shot their cast in bright light, without makeup, giving each wrinkle, blemish, or tuft of hair sculptural detail.
For all its visual invention, however, Dreyer's film is most devastating in its central performance by Falconetti (n?e Renee Falconetti), a French stage actress who made her only screen appearance here--one critic Pauline Kael has suggested "may be the finest performance ever recorded on film." Through Falconetti, Joan's spiritual devotion, simple dignity, and suffering become utterly real; even without a dialogue track and only sparse inter-titles, the film achieves a fevered eloquence.
This meticulous restoration also includes composer Richard Einhorn's beautiful oratorio, Voices of Light, inspired by Dreyer's film and set to texts by women mystics from medieval and early-Renaissance Europe. A luminous work on its own, Einhorn's oratorio matches both the dramatic arcs and tremulous emotions of Dreyer's film, while its juxtaposition of choral and solo voices (with early-music vocal quartet Anonymous 4 evoking Joan herself) echoes the martyr's confrontation with the court. --Sam Sutherland
With its stunning camerawork and striking compositions, Carl Th. Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc convinced the world that movies could be art. Ren?e Falconetti gives one of the greatest performances ever recorded on film, as the young maiden who died for God and France. Long thought to have been lost to fire, the original version was miraculously found in perfect condition in 1981-in a Norwegian mental institution. Criterion is proud to present this milestone of silent cinema in a new special edition featuring composer Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light, an original opera/oratorio inspired by the film.
At Smarter.com, we aim to ensure we give you the most sound buying advice possible. With our 'Cumulative Product Rating' system, in order for a product to receive a rating score, it must have a minimum number of ratings to qualify.
This system is not intended to diminish the value of products with a low number of ratings and reviews, they're great, and hopefully very helpful, but if you want our advice, we want to make sure that the product you're thinking of buying has been rated and reviewed by enough shoppers like you to be a valuable indicator of product quality.
100 Reviews
| From: Amazon Posted: Dec 06, 2008 Type: User Review |
Gifted, Silent Eloquence
You can usually tell an important film by how strongly viewers project their feelings on the work. Dryer's "The Passion of Saint Joan" is no exception. A 1928 silent film masterpiece that people love or hate; there are few in-between. Even if...
|
 5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Oct 30, 2008 Type: User Review |
The Reason Film Became An Art Form!
I saw The Passion of Joan of Arc first in a fuzzy video created by silent film buffs years ago. It was beautiful. When the Danish copy was found, I was thrilled. The local Dryden Theatre showed the film with the Danish subtitles years later...
|
5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Oct 11, 2008 Type: User Review |
Saint Carl
A while back the Turner Classic Movie channel dedicated a day to the Director Carl Theodore Dreyer. I'd never heard of him before. I watched a couple of the film offerings and was captivated. I purchased four Dreyer films from Amazon. I'm glad...
|
5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Aug 25, 2008 Type: User Review |
It's film, it's art, it's life; it's passion...
Probably one of my favorite films ever made, `La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc' is an extraordinary accomplishment in the world of motion picture cinema. It is silent, but it never lacks a voice; it is black and white yet never void of color; it is...
|
5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Aug 01, 2008 Type: User Review |
Faces
Ingmar Bergman always thought that one of the most important features of a film were the faces of the actors. The face can reveal everything, including the fact that the person behind it is trying to conceal something. So in Bergman's films,...
|
5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jul 22, 2008 Type: User Review |
An Astonishing Revelation
This beautiful restoration of Dreyer's unwavering focus on telling a tale of corruption versus purity gave us a profoundly insightful look into one of history's most intriguing women and the church that sought to destroy her. Dreyer's brilliant...
|
5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jun 04, 2008 Type: User Review |
Magnificent
Maria Falconetti delivers one of the best performances I have ever seen in any movie about the ill fated saint, Joan of Arc, in Dreyer's "Passion". This was, incidentally, her only role aside from a small part in Dreyer's "Le Comtesse".
|
5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Feb 16, 2008 Type: User Review |
Could have been half as long
OK, the verdict is in: it's art.
|
 3.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jan 21, 2008 Type: User Review |
Magnificent Film
When I ordered this film, I had no idea of how moving and magnificent it is. Watching this film with the Voices of Light music turned on actually brought this man to tears. I consider myself a historian having read many volumes on Joan, plus the...
|
5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Dec 21, 2007 Type: User Review |
Made in Orleans
This could very well be the greatest film ever made. Though Murnau's FAUST is a mind-blowing visual experience, the impact of this silent film, shot almost entirely in close ups, with a spine-chilling oratorio by Einhorn, is a shattering...
|
5.00/5 |
- Chiropractic Specialist
- Pain and Injury Management -most insurance welcome
- LindsayWhiteheadD.C.googlepages.com
- Joan Of Arc DVD
- Huge Inventory Of Low Cost DVDs. Free Shipping With Your Purchase!
- www.HotMovieSale.com
Similar Products:
-
Metropolis (Restored Authorized Edition)
From: $18.72 at 4 Stores
-
SpongeBob SquarePants : Employee of the Month (Jewel Case)
From: $4.99 at 2 Stores
-
Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 2 (Charlie Chan at the Circus / Charlie Chan at the Olympics / Charlie Chan at the Opera / Charlie Chan at the Race Track)
From: $34.86 at 7 Stores
-
Landmarks of Early Film, Vol. 1
From: $19.94 at 3 Stores
-
Modern Times (2 Disc Special Edition)
From: $19.74 at 5 Stores
-
Man With the Movie Camera
From: $14.13 at 3 Stores
-
The Golem (Restored Authorized edition)
From: $10.80 at 5 Stores
-
The Thief of Bagdad (Deluxe Edition)
From: $18.72 at 6 Stores
-
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
From: $17.41 at 3 Stores
-
Presenting Felix the Cat, Vol. 1 and 2
From: $2.65 at 3 Stores
*Shipping costs are based on an estimate of the lowest shipping rate available within the contiguous US, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Only merchants with this product in stock are listed (Merchants with this product back ordered have been removed from this list).
Do you see a pricing error? Please let us know by filling out a simple form: Click here