...or, if you need it translated, it's "The Passion of Joan of Arc" in English.

This is an incredible film! It's truly the definition of "film as art." In fact, I class this as a masterpiece. I don't think I've ever rented a movie and less than five minutes into it decided I MUST own a copy. Until now.

This silent film (shot around 1927) was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and stars Maria Renee Falconetti as Jeanne.

In silent movies, there was no spending millions and millions of dollars on special effects and computer-generated characters and sets and Dolby THX sound (well, duh on that one!). In silent film, all you have, really, are these two things: Photography and expression. And La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc has both of these areas covered magnificiently!

In fact, Dreyer had ordered very elaborate and expensive (for their time) sets built for this film. But you never really see them because he uses close-ups of the actors almost exclusively. Now, if you have actors who just show up and go through the motions, you'd have a very dull film. But the cast of this film, led by Falconetti's stunning performance, really draws the viewer in. You don't need audio dialogue (or even the intertitles) to tell you what motivates the characters because it's all in their faces. The photography of this film gives it "life" in a way that I've never seen in film before.

More on Maria Falconetti: She was a stage actress, and I believe this was the only film she ever did. Falconetti masterfully takes viewers through Joan's bewilderment, fear, anger, her torment and her unshakeable faith in her life's mission and the acceptance of her fate; by the end of the film you are left completely shattered, as if you had just experienced Jeanne's ordeal yourself.

And for the "alternative/bohemian artist" set, there's a special treat: Antonin Artaud (he of the Theatre of Cruelty) does a matinee-idol turn as the monk who quietly supports and comforts Joan throughout her ordeal.

Historically, this film deals only with Joan's trial and execution. In fact, the dialogue for the film was largely taken from the transcript of her trial (which is shown at the beginning of the film). There are a few "bloopers" that got in: The "modern" glasses and scissors and the kit that the English guards are wearing looks more early 20th Century than 15th Century. However, I don't know if these bloopers made it into the original version of the film.

It seems that this film has had a rather interesting history. The original film was lost in a fire. Dreyer edited together a new version using alternate takes--and that version was believed to have been lost in another fire until it was found in a closet at in an insane asylum in Denmark! After this film was found, it was restored in the mid-80's to the version we have today. This film was heavily censored in France--seems the French didn't like the fact that Dreyer was 1) not French; and 2) not Catholic! And, of course, the English hated the film because, let's face it, they don't come off too well there. About the only place this film wasn't heavily criticized and/or censored was in the Netherlands and Norway and Denmark, whos government censors accepted the film as-is.

The music score deserves mention as well. Normally, I don't like modern musical scores to old silent films, because they just don't seem to fit. However, Voices of Light--written by Richard Einhorn--is the perfect fit to this film. The music carries the viewer through the pain and fear and treachery of the trial, and then delivers the devastating crescendo during the execution scene...all without being distracting or otherwise competing with the visuals.

Moving in its performances, stunning in it's photography and beautiful in its simplicity, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc is not just a classic, but THE classic film that every filmmaker and every actor should aspire to.