Die Passion der Jeanne d'Arc

Mit einer gut gewählten musikalischen Live-Begleitung (Applaus für das Orchester BERG) kann selbst diese Johanna zu einem fesselnden Erlebnis werden. Diese Verarbeitung ihres Leidens hat natürlich einen festen Platz in der Filmgeschichte und ist ebenso selbstverständlich eines der am häufigsten adaptierten Themen. Doch gerade durch Dreyers minimalistische Lösung tritt das Paradoxon der Deutung ihres unerschütterlichen Glaubens etwas schärfer an die Oberfläche. Und wenn ich die ganze Palette der verschiedenen Projekte Revue passieren lasse, angefangen bei Méliès und dem tschechischen Musical bis hin zu dem, was ich schon so oft getan habe, dann muss ich Das Mädchen Johanna (1935) als einzigartig hervorheben. (16.03.2012)

The film, which you can see with various musical accompaniments, because Dreyer himself did not specify a definitive version of the soundtrack anywhere. My almost choral version, found in the original from the 80s in a mental institution, is incredibly pompous and emotional. Dreyer cuddled with the faces of individual actors and especially with the actress playing Joan of Arc through the camera. Thanks to this, he managed to incorporate incredible expressionism into the film, which is also given by the acting abilities of Maria Falconetti, who despite this was primarily a theater actress. Do not expect an epic historical film, but a recording of the trial with Joan and her subsequent death. (14.07.2014)

We won't depart from the closeups of faces, from the extra raw emotions, and unfortunately also from depression for depression's sake, because we all know where the main heroine begins in the plot, what she will have to endure, and where she will be forced to go. But that's where my objections begin and end. For a nearly hundred-year-old film, I gaped at it in amazement for a whole hour and a half, as if it were some sacred icon, because it looks better in terms of actors, camera, or editing than films made decades later, which is unheard of and miraculous in the first half of the twentieth century. (23.09.2020)

The narrative, based on close-up shots of exuberant characters, has an indescribable power thanks to the typologically precise cast and superb performances, as does the idiosyncratic direction at the intersection of several filmmaking movements and approaches of the time, but as the minutes tick by the magic wears off, and since it's clear how it all will end, the whole film seems more like a patient demonstration of contemporary directorial skill than a compelling story of fate. Anyway, the additional music is phenomenal. (15.02.2016)