The Passion of Joan of Arc
1928 · 81 min · Drama, History
Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
“An Immortal Screen Classic that will live Forever!”
A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she'd spoken to God, Jeanne d'Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom.
Why it's worth watching
Dreyer's silent masterpiece portrays Joan of Arc's trial and martyrdom with devastating, reverent intensity — a profound meditation on faith, suffering, and steadfast conviction under persecution.
What it praises
Unwavering faith, courage, integrity in the face of corrupt authority, and martyrdom for truth.
For discernment
Dreyer's 1928 silent film is a devastating, reverent portrait of Joan's trial and burning, told largely in stark close-ups of her tear-streaked face as corrupt clergy bully and threaten a teenage girl who will not deny what she believes God told her, and its meditation on faith, suffering, and integrity under religious persecution is profound and unforgettable. It is spiritually serious and treats Joan as a genuine martyr for conviction. The content that needs weighing is the intensity of the ordeal: prolonged psychological cruelty, a torture chamber, a scene of Joan being bled with a brief spurt of blood, and finally her execution by fire, with a corpse shown amid the flames and a violent riot afterward. There is a brief image of a nursing mother's exposed breast. Catholic viewers will recognize Joan's canonization framing, which Protestant viewers may hold at some distance while still honoring her courage. This is heavy, exalted, adult-serious viewing, not casual devotional fare.
- ViolenceJoan is threatened in a torture chamber, bled with a brief spurt of blood, and burned at the stake with a corpse shown amid flames, followed by a violent riot in which people are beaten and killed.
- SpiritualThe film presents Joan within a Catholic framework of sainthood and martyrdom that Protestant viewers may want to weigh, while still honoring her courage.
- SexualityA brief image of a nursing mother's exposed breast, non-sexual in context.
Cast
Maria Falconetti
Jeanne d'Arc
Eugène Silvain
Bishop Pierre Cauchon
André Berley
Jean d'Estivet
Maurice Schutz
Nicolas Loyseleur
Antonin Artaud
Jean Massieu
Michel Simon
Jean Lemaître
Jean d'Yd
Guillaume Evrard
Louis Ravet
Jean Beaupère
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