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

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.

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

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

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

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.

Borden, Daniel et al. Film: A World History. 1st ed. Hamburg: Abrams Press, 2008.