“The reality of The Passion of Joan of Arc was so palpable that in 1929, five hundred years after the actual event, when this amazing cinematic attempt to probe into layers of the past – stripping a historic occurrence bare – was shown in New York City, two spectators died in their seats
The young wife of an aging priest falls in love with his son amidst the horror of a merciless witch hunt in 17th century Denmark.
« Dreyer a pressenti le cinéma futur car il a eu la force de filmer la parole. »
Manoel de Oliveira1
“So you think this is a kind of lifetime style for me? That is not the case. I answer that a film’s rhythm is a part of the milieu that it shows.
“When I think of Carl Dreyer, what comes to mind first are those pale white images, the splendid voiceless close-ups in La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc that play back exactly the acerbic dialogue at Rouen between Jeanne and her judges.
“In summer 1947, Dreyer wrote to the head of Dansk Kulturfilm, Ib Koch-Olsen, to suggest a short film about the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1848).