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Special Features
- The film is accompanied by Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light, an original orchestral work inspired by the film and performed by renowned choral ensemble Anonymous 4, the Nederlands Radio Choir and the Nederlands Radio Philharmonic
- Notes on Voices of Light, including interviews, essays, photographs and medieval texts used for the libretto
- Interactive essay on the film's production and the life and trial of Joan of Arc
- Multimedia history of the film's many versions
- Restoration demonstration & extensive production design archive
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Seeing Joan of Arc today remains a cinematic revelation, its approach to storytelling, set design, editing, and especially cinematography (by Rudolph Maté, 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 Maté'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 Maté 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 (née 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
Product Description
Customer Reviews
Other reviews have said that "Passion" was the best of the films of Joan of Arc, and after viewing this masterpiece directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer (cq), it's hard to think that something better could be out there.
Five stars across the board for the presentation, quality (sound and video) and for the film itself, which is one that demands the most caring team to make certain that a DVD presentation is of the best quality. This comes from the Criterion Collection, and make no mistake about it, they did what this archive in cinematic achievement demanded.
The DVD contains a digitally restored, black and white transfer from an original negative which was discovered in 1981 in a Norwegian mental institution (perhaps the person who hid this gem was not crazy, after all). Originally a silent movie, the film is accompanied by a digital stereo composition performed by Anonymous 4 with soloist Susan Narucki and the Radio Netherlands Philharmonic and Choir. The audio, which is optional to the viewing of "Passion" is GORGEOUS. The music alone is worth the price of admission.
Included with the DVD is a "Voices of Light" libretto booklet. Kudos to composer Richard Einhorn. If you're reading this, I'd love your autograph. This work is a "must have" in a serious collector of cinematic (and orchestral) genius, so if you're both, kill both birds with the same stone.
For the movie, I was stunned at the cinematic approach to filming "Passion." This is why I am certain that no one has come to within the state border of being close to the depth of passion that pours out of EVERY frame. From the opening scene to the bitter end, this DVD keeps you involved. By the end, you may be in tears, as I was. Lead actress Renee Falconetti (imdb database has her listed as Maria Falconetti) is flawless in her role as Joan of Arc, and it's simply a pity that her nature kept her away from acting. She only made two films (according to the imdb database, "La Comtesse de Somerive" [1917] was her first) and "Passion" was her second. It seemed as though she became Joan from the start, and as she presented her role, she seemed to almost be consumed by the spirit of Joan's demise herself. I wonder if Falconetti was all but traumatized by the structure in which she had to act the part? A website said that she fled her country during World War II for Buenos Aires, where she lived until 1946.
For those interested in filmmaking, this movie MUST BE SEEN. Repeat that sentence, which bears repeating. To this day, you will not see the wonderfully filmed and lit scenes, credited by Rudolph Mate, director of photography. The filming doesn't go by the book, because in 1928, no book was even written on filmmaking. Today, I wish more directors and DP's would go more by the books of Dreyer and Mate.
Technical details: This is ONLY for the Criterion Collection version: Transfer of an original print, via digital restoration; 82 minutes, B&W (no colorization) at its original screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (which is now TV format ratio); French intertitles and optional English subtitles; optional silent- viewing or the digital stereo 5.1 surround of "Voices of Light," which was written for "Passion"; optional audio commentary by Univ. of Copenhagen Dreyer scholar Casper Tybjerg; audio interview with Falconetti's daughter; details on the film's restoration (with video comparisons); video essay on "Voices of Light"; 3- page dual- sided pamphlet which includes a small passage that Th. Dreyer wrote; 25- page "Voices of Light" libretto booklet; plus a Criterion catalog.
I'll just add this for the perspective buyer that may be a bit intimidated by the bombast of the reviews: please don't assume this film will be like going to a required class. It truly is thrilling. The final scene, when Joan is burned, is one of the most gripping pieces of film-making I've ever scene. It builds and builds with quick edits, the camera suddenly moving like the eye of a terrified child, each image a bit more twisted and seared than the last, until finally you realize you are watching something mankind should not witness - the apocalypse descending on earth. As Kurtz would say, "The horror. The horror."
Worth the price of admission, wouldn't you say? --Mykal Banta
The added features on the disc were all worth watching too. Read more
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