MUBI brings you a great new film every day.  Start your 7-day free trial today!
Watch a new film every day for $4.99.
Try MUBI for FREE.
 

The Passion of Joan of Arc

La passion de Jeanne d'Arc

France

1928

82 Min
Black and White
1.33:1
Silent
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

   |   

DIR Carl Theodor Dreyer

SCR Carl Theodor Dreyer

DP Rudolph Maté

CAST Renée Jeanne Falconetti, Eugène Silvain, André Berley, Maurice Schutz, Antonin Artaud, Gilbert Dalleu, Jean d'Yd, Louis Ravet

ED Marguerite Beaugé, Carl Theodor Dreyer

PROD DES Jean Hugo

MUSIC Ole Schmidt, Jesper Kyd

Melbourne, Melbourne, Berlinale (Retrospective), SXSW (Special Events)

Synopsis

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. Renée 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. —The Criterion Collection

Director

Original

Carl Theodor Dreyer

Carl Theodor Dreyer was born out of wedlock to a Swedish housekeeper, Josefina Nilsson (1855-1891), who gave him up for adoption immediately after. The first year and a half of his life was turbulent, but the little boy finally found a home with the Dreyer family and was named Carl Theodor after his adoptive father. Dreyer’s birth mother died not long after his eventual adoption. Several film scholars have interpreted Dreyer’s frequent depictions of tragic women as an autobiographical element in his films.

Dreyer began his career as a reporter, specialising in aviation early on, in 1910-1913. Himself an active balloonist, he got a balloonist’s certificate in November 1911. Alongside his journalism, he wrote screenplays. His first realised script was Bryggerens Datter (Dagmar) (Rasmus Ottesen, 1912), produced by Det Skandinavisk-russiske Handelshus. In 1913-1918, he worked as a script consultant and writer at Nordisk Film, where he also made his directorial debut… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 118 wall posts.
Picture of Aguaespejo

Aguaespejo

7Apr13

Such a painful film to endure, Dreyer cuts you no slack whatsoever. It's always those faces: sinister, sleazy, impotent or suffering. It seems appropriate that the champion of the theater of cruelty (towards the audience) Artaud is the stand-in for the viewer in this film which has such a relentlessly sadistic intent (that is not a value judgement: I admire the film as I suffer it) towards me, the viewer.

affasf and David Grillo like this

Picture of TFCHooligan69

TFCHooligan69

4Apr13

This silent classic, with a brand new live score, is a powerful experience on the big screen. Money well spent tonight. Renée Falconetti's portrayal of Jeanne d'Arc is just beyond words. You sit there transfixed. Mesmerizing. Heartbreaking. Such emotion.

Picture of Greg S.

Greg S.

17Mar13

I think this film might have the highest ratio of 5 star ratings among the people I follow. Well deserved.

Emery Snyder likes this

Picture of João Pedro Tomás

João Pedro Tomás

16Mar13

Thank You, Dreyer.

Related Films

Fans

Displaying 5 of 3720 fans.

Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

Movie Poster of the Week: “The Passion of Joan of Arc” and the Widescreen Posters of René Péron

By Adrian Curry on August 31, 2012

A pair of stunning giant posters for Dreyer’s masterpiece, and other over-sized posters by the artist René Péron.

read article
W184

Sight & Sound's "Greatest Films of All Time"

By Notebook on August 3, 2012

The British magazine unveils the results of their 2012 poll of the greatest films of all time.

read article
W184

The Forgotten: Epic Movie

By David Cairns on March 8, 2012

Marco de Gastyne’s rival Joan of Arc movie hit theaters the year after Dreyer’s, and triumphed. But who remembers it now?

read article
W184

Daily Briefing. "Twin Peaks" @ 20

By David Hudson on October 29, 2011

Also: The Passion of Joan of Arc accompanied by Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Will Gregory (Goldfrapp).

read article
W184

Dreyer, Malle, Davies, Huston

By David Hudson on November 19, 2010

The Carl Theodor Dreyer retrospective at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley has been going on since the beginning of the month and runs

read article
W184

TIFF 2010. Images of the day

By Daniel Kasman on September 17, 2010

From Martin Arnold's Jeanne (2002), currently being projected at the Bell Lightbox.

read article
W184

The Tubular Muse: The Close-Up

By Daniel Kasman on August 17, 2009

Anna Faris in "Smiley Face" (2007) & Maria Falconetti in "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (1928) "I will never find the way to say how much

read article
Blank

Image of the day: Martyrs & Saints

By Pacze Moj on April 8, 2009

The Interrogation (Bugajski, 1982): two shots of Krystyna Janda as a political prisoner, which remind me of Maria Falconetti in Dreyer's

read article
Blank

At the cinematheque: "The Bride of Glomdale" (Dreyer, 1926)

By David Phelps on March 19, 2009

Above: The Bride of Glomdale (1926).  Image courtesy of The Danish Film Institute/Stills & Posters Archive. Almost all early Carl Th

read article
Blank

Dreyer Diary #1: "Joan"

By Ryland Walker Knight on March 14, 2009

The Brooklyn Academy of Music will be running a Carl Th. Dreyer retrospective, appropriately and monolithically titled DREYER, from March 13

read article
Blank

Montage for Carl Th. Dreyer, part 4

By David Phelps on March 11, 2009

The Brooklyn Academy of Music will be running the Carl Th. Dreyer retrospective, appropriately and monolithically titled DREYER, from March 13

read article

Lists

Displaying 5 of 712 lists.

Reviews

Displaying 4 of 7

A BRIEF LOOK INTO THE 1920S WITH ‘THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC’ (1928)

By Omar Antonio Iturria​ga on February 14, 2012

Official Review on my site

It seems that even decades…  read review

Psalm 22

1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? 2 Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief…  read review

Greatest Silent Film Ever Made!

By Beneezy on March 21, 2010

(Sunday / March 21, 2010 / 2:00am)

“The Passion Of Joan Of Arc” is arguably the best, if not the greatest “silent” film ever made and greatest film of all time. This film was done with precise…  read review

Untitled

By Phillip​EJohnst​on on November 2, 2009

It could not be more perfect.

Lesser films made from Joan’s story have fallen into the trap of turning the spiritual elements of her final moments into a melodramatic pastiche of supernatural…  read review

Forum

Displaying 7 discussion topics.

Sound Track to Dryer's Joan of Arc

11 posts by 10 people 11 months ago

La Comtesse de Somerive (1917)

1 post by 1 person over 1 year ago

the passion of joan of arc

57 posts by 26 people almost 2 years ago

Where are Carl Th. Dreyer's films on Mubi?

3 posts by 2 people over 2 years ago

TIFF's Essential 100

1 post by 1 person over 2 years ago

Distrbing and Ravishing

6 posts by 5 people over 3 years ago

DVD

Buy the DVD from The Criterion Collection.