"The Director Says"

Derek 2021-12-20 08:01:15

This is an unprecedented and unique film that is also called the end: a film describing a heroine who was martyred for faith, in the 110-minute screening time, almost all of them are "close-ups" and "big close-ups"; Even the huge medieval castle set that cost 7 million francs was specially built for the filming of this film has only become a blurred background in the film.

That being the case, why did Dreyer spend a lot of money to build such an elaborate set?

Dreyer said that for every detail to be true, even the long-term view must be real.

Since he cares so much about the reality of the environment, why should he focus the lens on the face of the person, and obviously ignore the display of the environment?

Dreyer said that because he mainly wanted to express the inner world of the character, the real environment is only a foil, and only the facial expression of the person is the window to reveal the inner world of the character.

So this film created a unique star in film history: Renai Falconetti. She is unique because before she played Joan of Arc, she was just a "runner" in an unknown popular comedy. The film "The Passion of Joan of Arc" made her name go down in history. Although after her, the famous Ingrid Bergman and Mitchell Mogan also played Joan of Arc, but they are all due to the creation of Joan of Arc by Renai Falconetti The image is overshadowed by the huge brilliance. However, Renai Falconetti has disappeared from the screen since he played Joan of Arc. Except for her, there is no other actress in the history of film that goes down in history by only acting in one film. It should be said that Renai Falconetti’s success depends entirely on the guidance of Carl Delaire, the director of "The Crucifixion of Joan of Arc," and on the overall artistic quality of the film.

Karl Dreyer is a Danish. Because his film "You Should Respect Your Wife" (1925) was extremely popular with audiences when it was released in France, French producers hired him to shoot a film featuring French greats. He chose Joan of Arc.

He said: "I want to eulogize the soul to conquer life." As he wrote later, he believed that "artists should describe the inner life, not the outer life"; "artists should abstract based on reality in order to fulfill reality." Spiritual content". His method is to abandon all elements that are helpless to the central idea, simplify the reality, and turn the central idea into a symbol. The film "The Passion of Joan of Arc" was conceived in this way. He condensed 29 interrogations over three months into five interrogations in the last day of Joan of Arc; the location is limited to the ancient castle where she was interrogated; the film has no plot outside of this main line. .

Since the character's face is so important for revealing the inner world, choosing an actor becomes the key. The well-known American actress Lillian Gish was the first candidate for Delaire to consider for hiring, but in the end he chose the anonymous Renai Falconetti, because Delaire felt that in this nameless person Under the appearance of the young actress, there is a soul that matches the inner world of Joan of Arc. For some of the roles in the film, Dreyer chose a famous role. For example, Bishop Ge Xiong is played by Eugene Silvain, the director of the French Theater, and famous actors Michelle Simon and Antonin Aalto. Only played a supporting role in the film. But the actor of the British leader, Earl Warwick, is a non-professional actor and a cafe owner.

It can be seen that the main criterion for Dreyer's selection of actors is appearance, which is a certain temperament revealed by appearance. This emphasis on the face will inevitably lead to a unique style of the film that is unprecedented.

As Dreyer said: "Every question and answer naturally needs a close-up. This is the only feasible way to show the inner world of the interrogator and the interrogated." And by "close-up" and "close-up." The film composed for the main part indeed has a sacred sentiment, reaching a height of power and passion, and has a unique artistic charm that no other film in the history of film can compare with.

This is a religious film. Joan of Arc died for faith. She is not only a national hero, but also a martyr of religious faith. Most of the legends about her deified her. Although Dreyer's films are full of strong religious sentiments, they are always full of strong humanity when portraying the character of Joan of Arc. She is not a born saint. Although she has firm beliefs, she also has the feelings of ordinary people: she is afraid of death, she is shaken, she is doubtful... But in the end she overcomes fear, eliminates doubts, and changes from fear of death to welcome Death would rather die than surrender. These ups and downs of her feelings are all expressed very real by "close-ups". Even her relationship with the people around her and the environment is represented by "close-ups": not only by her "close-ups", but also by the "close-ups" of those around her. For example, Antonin Aalto played the monk who sympathized with Joan of Arc. The piercing eyes of Joan of Arc on the execution ground conveyed complex inner messages of encouragement, faith, sympathy, grief, etc., and stood beside him. The ascetic monk who held the cross aloft to give her comfort to Joan of Arc before the execution, which formed a very sharp contrast or complementarity. When the flames rose, Joan's face was close-up, and her wide-eyed eyes were not so much an expression of anger as they showed her extreme physical and mental pain at the time and her helpless attachment to others. Through these close-up shots, Dreyer makes the audience feel as if he is on the scene, as if he has also become a member of the onlookers, feeling the destruction of human nature in the atmosphere of mysticism.

In order to create a sense of realism, Dreyer used a variety of methods. He used the upside-down shot to represent the judges of the religious courts, making them appear aggressive; he also used the upside down shot to represent Joan of Arc under trial, which made her even more helpless.

Montage played a huge role in psychological description in the film. For example, in the passage in the torture room, the scenes of various torture instruments appeared one after another, and the time of appearance was shorter than one, which caused a terrible sense of violence to force weak women to fear. And in that section of the execution ground, the footage of Joan on the torture table intersected with the breastfeeding mother, the soldier with the gun, the crowded, angry, and contemplative monks and lay people, resulting in a kind of rare screen. The sense of grief and tension. Falconetti's performance in that segment is considered the most outstanding, the most delicate, and the most hierarchical.

Dreyer said: "She experienced that role wholeheartedly. There is something indescribable about her, something that is not human."

The excellent photography of the film, especially the excellent lighting, makes the rhythm and style of this film reach a perfect state. Delaier said: "The photographer gave me the effect I wanted, the effect of mysticism..."

Karl Dreyer, a demanding artist, has only made five films since "The Passion of Joan of Arc" and before his death in 1968. His lifelong belief is: "Movies cannot be without art." The American critic Vernon Younger aptly called "The Crucifixion of Joan of Arc" as "the most dense film in the history of film exploring the human soul."

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Extended Reading
  • Buster 2022-03-27 09:01:09

    It's a story that couldn't be more stupid, Joan of Arc and the House of Representatives eloquently revolving around God. Joan of Arc said that she had encountered miracles, that she was sent by God. The story has been revered and adapted by countless masters of faith, including Shakespeare and Bernard Shaw. Even more stupid today. This is the main theme of France, the victory of the French will, religion is power, faith is power, and Napoleon spread the words of Joan of Arc to rule Europe. For the silent era, I've always thought that dramas were less artistic than comedies. The montages of the silent film era are misleading. Strings come and go to string out a few ugly old men with adulterous and evil faces, and they still stay in the aesthetic standard of either good or evil. Montage guides the audience's emotional direction to a great extent, but just like Soviet socialism, it obliterates individual judgment. From this point of view, I prefer modern movies to rely on atmosphere to render emotions. The montage actually took away the joy of watching the movie, at best it felt like an art student research paper. The montage makes the film less fluid.

  • Dion 2021-12-20 08:01:15

    [A-] There is a heroic image of "Joan of Arc" in the hearts of the world, so the director took advantage of this, without any portrayal of Joan himself, and made full use of the close-up to highlight the torture and suffering he suffered at the end of his life. The internal painful struggle, the characters almost only have close-ups from beginning to end, and this is even more shocking in this film. This kind of complete close-up performance is unprecedented. But this is also a great test for actors. Maria can be said to have completed one of the greatest performances in film history. The use of religion and the oppression of a large number of elevation lenses even produced the suffocation of horror films.

The Passion of Joan of Arc quotes

  • Juge: Has God promised you things?

    Jeanne d'Arc: That has nothing to do with this trial!

  • Jeanne d'Arc: You claim that I am sent by the Devil. It's not true. To make me suffer, the Devil has sent you... and you... and you... and you.