La passion de Jeanne d’Arc

"The soul, the face and everything that is behind the face" is at the centre of this milestone in cinema history. The story of the suffering of a martyr (outstanding: Maria Falconetti), who rebels against male abuse of power and is cruelly punished for it, is timeless - as is the strictly reduced film language. Although, or perhaps precisely because, Dreyer has enormous artistic and financial resources at his disposal for his last silent film, he uses them - meticulously adhering to the surviving trial transcripts - for a detailed reconstruction of historical decorations and costumes in order to then "only" explore the essentials in simple close-ups: the faces of the characters, like haunting landscapes of the soul.