Dreyer's "The Passion of Joan of Arc"
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Transcript of Dreyer's "The Passion of Joan of Arc"
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Film Criticism Study – A Bibliography and an Evaluation
Thea1300: Intoduction to Film
Le Passion De Jeanne D’Arc (1928) In Relation to David Bordwell’s Essay (of the same name) from his book The Films of Carl Theodore Dreyer.
Brayden Benham
Submitted to: Faith-Ann Hine
10/02/09
Summary:
David Bordwell's main thesis in his essay (La Passion De Jean D'Arc) is
that the film is a "dynamic intersection of systems" (92) best understood in its
multiplicity of styles rather than as a simple unified construct; though the film may
have an ultimate unifying vision, it is not a simple matter of labeling it within a
particular cinematic style. This essay is a response to many critics who have tried
to put an over-simplified label on the film, Bordwell himself included. He responds
in reference to his past writing where he (like many critics) tried to look at the film
as a unity of two cinematic styles: German Expressionism and French
Impressionism. His argument now is, though the film does employ both
Impressionist and Expressionist themes, it is much more than the combination of
the two as a whole - mostly owing to the unique directing of Carl Th. Dreyer and
his innovations with "eccentric space" (Bordwell, 81). Bordwell also makes
reference to the films similarities and disparities with the classic Hollywood style
saying that the film both employs, skews and disregards the classic rules of
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filmmaking; he makes specific reference to Dreyer's use and disuse of: eye-line
matches, match on action cuts, the 180 degree rule, establishing/restablishing
shots, depth-of-field, point-of-view and mise-en-scene. Bordwell makes a good
case for the argument that Le Passion De Jeanne D’Arc (1928) is much more
than the combination of expressionism, impressionism and a disdain for the
classic Hollywood module, but rather it is a complexly unified and unique work of
the original and inspired direction of Carl Theodor Dreyer.
Evaluation:
Upon first seeing this film, and having learned about French
Impressionism and German Expressionism, one may be more than willing to
simply write it off as a clever integration of both themes, but at the same time I
felt it would do the film no justice. I’m tempted to say that anyone who watches
Le Passion De Jeanne D’Arc will very quickly become disoriented as if they are
in unfamiliar territory (and this is not simply because viewers may not be familiar
with silent film). David Bordwell’s analysis of the film gave voice to the feeling
that there was something more to the film. He defines the films appeal and
brilliance in terms of its disorienting (but at the same time unifying) methods as
well as it’s owing to the aforementioned cinematic movements, as well as:
Russian montage, modern writing and cubism.
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From the perspective of German Expressionism parallels can be drawn to
The Passion of Joan of Arc. Bordwell agrees there are a lot of ways that the film
overlaps with Expressionism, for example Dreyer’s use of “setting, lighting,
costume, spatial relations…[to]…project the mental state of the protagonist”
(Bordwell, 81). He makes reference to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1915), using it
as the model for expressionism. In the film everything element that is put into a
scene in some way reflects the subjective view of the character. As the whole
plot of Caligari is a madman’s dream the set design, lighting, costumes, framing
and acting all conform to a unified vision of madness. This can be seen in Le
Passion De Jeanne D’Arc; the windows of the church that don’t conform to a
vanishing point, the impossibly narrow and cramped sets and the off-kilter arch’s
pervading a lot of the films imagery all conform to Joan’s subjective perspective
which suggests the clergy’s warped and stilted stance. The costumes also add to
this subjective perspective of stiltedness; the costumes are perfectly realist but
the way in which the camera shoots them at low angle’s and in strange framing
makes it look as though the clergy is seen by Joan to be high and mighty. But
this does not conform to her actual subjective view; to her the priests are not
those who are high and mighty but rather God himself is, and thus the priests
should look miniscule in her eyes. It seems this decision was one made by
Dreyer to impress an objective view of the clergy on the minds of the viewer.
While The Passion’s mis-en-scene “can be read as suggesting Jeanne’s spiritual
attitude” (Bordwell, 81) it is not wholly subjective. There is a lot that goes on in
the film that does not directly involve Joan and a lot of the mis-en-scene is not
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shaped by her own subjective attitude, therefore a more appropriate
“organizational centre” for the film is the developing narrative situation around
Joan (Bordwell, 83). Thus The Passion of Joan of Arc is something more than
merely German Expressionism.
This film is a vehement refutation of many of the conventions that the
traditional Hollywood structure holds dear. For example the use/disuse of
establishing shots: the film opens with a close-up of a book and there is no pull
back to show the whole setting. This is because what is important is the book not
where the book is. This is one of the points of classic style that Le Passion De
Jeanne D’Arc shows as inconsequential. The mis-en-scene of the film makes it
look as though all of the imagery in a given shot is pulled forward and lot most of
the background is usually blank white space. But in the classical style “space
must not come forward, since it functions to guarantee the homogeneity of the
spectacle” (Bordwell, 64). This says that the classical view of filmmaking holds it
true that a film will not be sensible if the audience is not thoroughly familiarized
with their surroundings (in a symmetrical manner) through
establishing/reestablishing shots, match-on-action/graphic match, mis-en-scene
and the “axis of action”.
Carl Th. Dreyer would rather us view this film as “realized mysticism” in
that he was trying to “interpret the hymn of the triumph of the soul over life”
(Dreyer, 50). This is a universal theme, not specifically subjective. Dreyer’s task
of capturing a timeless theme was a difficult one and involved his drawing upon a
variety of film techniques; he borrows from German Expressionism, traditional
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Hollywood, French Impressionism, Russian montage, Realism and, as Bordwell
will add, modern writing and cubism. The make-up of the film extricates
Expressionism, Impressionism and Hollywood style; it is thoroughly realist in that
there isn’t any at all. This shows that Dreyer wanted to portray real people in his
film, not just a subjective version of people (pertaining to Expressionism).
Bordwell justifies Dreyer’s borrowing from and expanding upon a number of
influence in Reference to “the strategy of the modern writer mentioned by
Jonathan Culler: … The poet or novelist succeeds in challenging naturalization
not by going beyond the bounds of sense, but by creating a verbal surface whose
fascination is greater than that of any possible naturalization and which thereby
challenges the models by which we attempt to comprehend and circumscribe it”
(Bordwell, 83). Like T.S. Eliot’s poetry, Dreyer draws on classical and modern
styles to give structure to a universal theme in a way that makes it something
much more than merely subjective. The Passion of Joan of Arc is ambiguously
directed, but unifying in its ambiguity.
More than simply commenting upon the film’s uniqueness Bordwell sheds
light on a crucial point about Le Passion De Jeanne D’Arc that could potentially
be overlooked. He believes that we will miss the underlying brilliance and
importance of the film if we attempt to classify it as having a specific formula.
Instead we must look at the multiplicity of disorienting images and study, what
the motivations behind them are, what they imply and what they actually orient us
towards. This essay gives impetus to gain a more diverse understanding of the
film as well as film in general. Upon first viewing one may be all to ready to write
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this film off as a clever integration of a few cinematic styles, but upon reading
Bordwell’s essay it seems that the true art of the film is something deeper, more
ambiguous and rewarding. This view of the Le Passion De Jeanne D’Arc makes
this film, along with the study of film itself, much more interesting and substantial.
Bibliography:
Bordwell, David. The Films of Carl Theodore Dreyer. 1st ed. London: University of California Press, 1981.
Milne, Tom. The Cinema of Carl Theodore Dreyer. 2nd ed. New York: A.S, Barnes & co., 1971.
Th. Dreyer, Carl. Dreyer in Double Reflection. 1st ed. Toronto: Clarke Irwin & Co. Ltd., 1973.
Drum, Jean and Dale D. Drum. My Only Great Passion: The Life and Films of Carl Th. Dreyer. 1st ed. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2000.
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Borden, Daniel et al. Film: A World History. 1st ed. Hamburg: Abrams Press, 2008.