Spiritual rapture and institutional hypocrisy come to stark, vivid life in one of the most transcendent masterpieces of the silent era. Chronicling the trial of Joan of Arc in the hours leading up to her execution, Danish master director Carl Theodor Dreyer depicts her torment with startling immediacy, employing an array of techniques—expressionistic lighting, interconnected sets, painfully intimate close-ups—to immerse viewers in her subjective experience. Anchoring Dreyer’s audacious formal experimentation is a legendary performance by Renée Falconetti, whose haunted face channels both the agony and the ecstasy of martyrdom.

Every frame, every scene, every image is unbelievably searing, evocative, and unforgettable. They each stand alone in their intensity. Falconetti’s performance is the most trenchantly outstanding in world cinema.

Almost all of the movie is shot in close-up, and the range and subtlety of emotion in her face is riveting. The effect of this film is difficult to describe in words, it must be seen and felt. Watch this version paired with “Voices of Light,” the opera/oratorio written later to accompany the film by Richard Einhorn.

The Best of Charles Burris