the low camera angles make the judges appear larger and more looming. They appear sheared off at the chest, making them seem to float and glide instead of walk. Carl Theodor Dreyer’s editing style is also part of the artistic method that makes the emotional value of The Passion of Joan of Arc so powerful. The lack of continuity directly parallels the inner conflict and emotion Joan is feeling as the judges question and condemn her for going against the “Holy Mother Church.” Of the film’s over fifteen hundred cuts, less than thirty carry a figure or object over from one shot to another; and fewer than fifteen cuts constitute genuine matches on action. Since objects and characters cannot be used to link shots, there is only the neutral white void of the background that remains continuous. It is possible to consider the white background as a metaphor for God surrounding and watching the proceedings.The actors in The Passion of Joan of Arc were unique in that they remained in the most natural physical state without makeup or masks. Expressionist film of the late 1920’s usually included actors that wore thick makeup or masks to obscure the individual identity of the character. Since obscurity was the furthest thing from his mind, Dreyer used a more “documentary” approach by using the actors’ own faces. To Dreyer, each face contained a wealth of detail: craggy ridges, puffy cheeks, bulbous eyebrows, sclerotic warts, and globes of sweat. It was the combination of the natural impurities and extreme close ups that produced so much emotion from single faces. The emotions in the faces of Joan and the Judges are also important in showing the active aggression and the passive fear in the trial. As the judges angrily ask question after question, demanding answers from Joan, the tension and fear they create reflects in Joan’s eyes. The reflection makes the reaction and fear genuine, a...
