Dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928. 114 min. DCP.
With Maria Falconetti, Antonin Artaud, Michel Simon, Eugene Silvain
Intertitles in French with English subtitles
Danish filmmaker Carl Dreyer’s Joan of Arc, drawn from his extensive research into the trial transcripts, is one of the towering achievements of silent cinema, a masterpiece consistently listed as one of the best films of all time since its release in 1928.
The secret to its enduring place in film culture may be the trance-like performance by Maria Falconetti as Joan. In some of the most glorious close-ups in cinema, Falconetti expresses all the pain, strength, and inextinguishable faith of a woman hounded by a society of men. As such, her performance continues to speak to our time.
“Dreyer’s most universally acclaimed masterpiece remains one of the most staggeringly intense films ever made.” — Time Out