The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. Starring Falconetti and Antonin Artaud.

My second Joan of Arc film on the list (the first being JOAN THE MAID) is by far the greatest historical film ever made because it's one of the few that manages to successfully evoke the experience of witnessing the events. Dreyer deliberately avoided the formulas of biopics in this film, instead condensing Joan's many trials into a single long one, and focusing on the ordeal she had to endure the final days of her life. I'm not a religious person, and most works about the saints' lives quite frankly don't move me, but I think the reason this film (and, to be fair, Rivette's as well) works so magnificently is because it doesn't feel like a religious film. Rather, the style is more like that of a courtroom drama played at high-speed, in which the questions asked of Joan are less important than the faces of those who so coldly hold her in judgment. Dreyer's editing style turns the trial into a flurry of faces, oppressing and almost assaulting our heroine simply through their hardened stares. The other major reason for the film's triumph is the performance of Falconetti as Joan. This was her only performance on film, and it's quite possible that there's never been a better one, and the reason it works is because it stands so resolutely in contrast to all others in the film. Falconetti's performance seems positively lit from within, and this is key because she must radiate pure faith even in the face of fear, pain and death, as though her great belief in God is what sustains her through these trials, and almost like she operates on the belief that the hardship is something she MUST endure in order to prove herself worthy. It's this interplay between Dreyer's stark vision of Joan's world and the overwhelming power of Falconetti's performance that makes the film really sing, not simply as one of the great films about religion or faith, but as one of the greatest of all films.