The Passion of Joan of Arc
Gaumont | Release Date: March 28, 1929 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
98
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
0
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
BBCJamie Russell
A stark and intense film, Jeanne d'Arc is renowned for its sparse shooting style - which focuses in on Falconetti's face with such relentless fascination that everything else (sets, props, secondary characters) disappear from view. Read full review
100
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Dreyer’s radical approach to constructing space and the slow intensity of his mobile style make this “difficult” in the sense that, like all the greatest films, it reinvents the world from the ground up. It’s also painful in a way that all Dreyer’s tragedies are, but it will continue to live long after most commercial movies have vanished from memory. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
To modern audiences, raised on films where emotion is conveyed by dialogue and action more than by faces, a film like The Passion of Joan of Arc is an unsettling experience--so intimate we fear we will discover more secrets than we desire. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
One of the cinema's imperishable visions of faith against injustice. [20 Feb 1997, p.9E]
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The chief reason for its legendary reputation is the brilliant match between its timeless historical subject - the trial that required Joan to defend her faith before skeptical representatives of church and state - and Dreyer's decision to film it primarily in relentless close-ups, using the sharply etched faces of his performers to suggest the invisible spiritual struggles going on beneath the drama's human dimensions. Read full review
100
CineVueDaniel Green
With The Passion of Joan of Arc, the world arguably saw the very best of both Dreyer and Joan – whilst also something approaching the very worst of humanity. Read full review
100
LarsenOnFilmJosh Larsen
The Passion of Joan of Arc is, in essence, a masterpiece of ingeniously edited reaction shots. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
It is among the most powerful early arguments in favor of a minimalist approach to filmmaking and champions the effectiveness of the close-up when used properly. It's hard to imagine anyone today arguing its place in the pantheon of Silent Olympians. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It’s a great film, but it must be added that it’s also an entertaining film. That is, it’s not at all a chore to sit through. People not only appreciate the film, but also enjoy it — though it’s a sober kind of enjoyment, given the subject matter. Read full review
100
Slant MagazineEric Henderson
The Passion of Joan of Arc remains the moment that [Dreyer] guided his medium to new heights, and also crafted a work that would endure outside of any specific context. Read full review
90
SlashfilmJoshua Meyer
By its nature as a silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc shows how unnecessary some dialogue is. Read full review
100
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Danish director Carl Dreyer's 1928 film The Passion Of Joan Of Arc is one of the indisputable masterpieces of the silent era. Read full review
100
The GuardianGuy Lodge
The last silent film by Danish master Carl Theodor Dreyer, it largely eschewed traditional master shots for a dazzling range of expressive, character-probing close-ups: no historical biopic has ever felt quite so unnervingly intimate. Read full review
90
The New York TimesMordaunt Hall
FRANCE can well be proud of that great picture, The Passion of Jeanne d'Arc, for while Carl Dreyer, a Dane, is responsible for the conspicuously fine and imaginative use of the camera, it is the gifted performance of Maria Falconetti as the Maid of Orleans that rises above everything in this artistic achievement. Read full review
100
The New YorkerPauline Kael
One of the greatest of all movies...Falconetti's Joan may be the finest performance ever recorded on film.
100
The Observer (UK)Philip French
This was Falconetti’s only major film, and over a period of a year under Dreyer’s direction (a combination of cruelty and patience) her extraordinarily expressive face made for one of the greatest, most harrowing screen performances. Read full review
80
The TelegraphThomas Green
In the hands of the great Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer it becomes a potent saga of battered faith, vicious bullying and personal torment. Read full review
100
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
The entire film is less moulded in light than carved in stone: it's magisterial cinema, and almost unbearably moving. Read full review
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC is one of the all-time masterpieces of pure cinema, not only for its unparalleled use of camera movement, composition, and editing, but for its transcendent spirituality and intense emotional impact. Read full review
100
Village VoiceJaime N. Christley
This is neither a hopeful nor a hopeless film, but one of feeling so colossal and resplendent, it can’t be constrained by prison or consumed by fire. Read full review
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