125 / BD 50 The Passion of Joan of Arc
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:18 pm
The Passion of Joan of Arc
One of the most emotional film experiences of any era, Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc is a miracle of the cinema, an enigmatic and profoundly moving work that merges the worlds of the viewer and of saintly Joan herself into one shared experience of hushed delirium.
Dreyer's film charts the final days of Joan of Arc as she undergoes the debasement that accompanies her trial for charges of heresy – through her imprisonment and execution at the stake.
The portrayal of Joan by Renée Maria Falconetti is frequently heralded as the all-time finest performance in the history of film, and Dreyer's unusual and virtuosic method, in seeming to render the very soul of his actress, vaulted the director decisively into the ranks of the art form's supreme geniuses. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Passion of Joan of Arc in its worldwide Blu-ray première, in an exclusive new restoration, presented in both 20fps and 24fps playback speeds, and featuring Dreyer's own original Danish-language intertitles.
SPECIAL FEATURES
• Exclusively restored high-definition master presented in the film's original aspect ratio, in 1080p on the Blu-ray
• Presented in both 20fps and 24fps playback speeds
• Optional audio tracks: a piano score performed by Japanese silent film composer Mie Yanashita (for the 20fps option), and a radical accompaniment by esteemed American avant-garde musician Loren Connors (for the 24fps option)
• Newly translated optional English subtitles for Dreyer's original Danish intertitles
• The complete "Lo Duca" version of the film – the version (featuring an alternate edit and soundtrack) that circulated in France and around the world for decades before the rediscovery of Dreyer's "director's cut"
• A 100-PAGE BOOK containing: Writing on the film by Jean Drum & Dale D. Drum about the film, replete with extensive quotations from Dreyer, Falconetti, and more; a contemporary review of the film by H.D. (the poet Hilda Doolittle); a new English translation of the 1930 review of the film by Luis Buñuel; a short 1951 excerpt about the film from writing by André Bazin; a new translation of the 1953 essay about the film by Chris Marker; two short pieces about the film and cinema in general by Carl Theodor Dreyer from 1929 and 1950; a new essay by scholar Casper Tybjerg unpacking the version history of the film; a selection of the production's set-design blueprints, photographs of physical set-models, and onset stills, all reprinted in high-resolution courtesy of the Danish Film Institute; a detailed technical note on the MoC restoration, versions presented, and frame-rates presented; and rare and archival imagery.
One of the most emotional film experiences of any era, Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc is a miracle of the cinema, an enigmatic and profoundly moving work that merges the worlds of the viewer and of saintly Joan herself into one shared experience of hushed delirium.
Dreyer's film charts the final days of Joan of Arc as she undergoes the debasement that accompanies her trial for charges of heresy – through her imprisonment and execution at the stake.
The portrayal of Joan by Renée Maria Falconetti is frequently heralded as the all-time finest performance in the history of film, and Dreyer's unusual and virtuosic method, in seeming to render the very soul of his actress, vaulted the director decisively into the ranks of the art form's supreme geniuses. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Passion of Joan of Arc in its worldwide Blu-ray première, in an exclusive new restoration, presented in both 20fps and 24fps playback speeds, and featuring Dreyer's own original Danish-language intertitles.
SPECIAL FEATURES
• Exclusively restored high-definition master presented in the film's original aspect ratio, in 1080p on the Blu-ray
• Presented in both 20fps and 24fps playback speeds
• Optional audio tracks: a piano score performed by Japanese silent film composer Mie Yanashita (for the 20fps option), and a radical accompaniment by esteemed American avant-garde musician Loren Connors (for the 24fps option)
• Newly translated optional English subtitles for Dreyer's original Danish intertitles
• The complete "Lo Duca" version of the film – the version (featuring an alternate edit and soundtrack) that circulated in France and around the world for decades before the rediscovery of Dreyer's "director's cut"
• A 100-PAGE BOOK containing: Writing on the film by Jean Drum & Dale D. Drum about the film, replete with extensive quotations from Dreyer, Falconetti, and more; a contemporary review of the film by H.D. (the poet Hilda Doolittle); a new English translation of the 1930 review of the film by Luis Buñuel; a short 1951 excerpt about the film from writing by André Bazin; a new translation of the 1953 essay about the film by Chris Marker; two short pieces about the film and cinema in general by Carl Theodor Dreyer from 1929 and 1950; a new essay by scholar Casper Tybjerg unpacking the version history of the film; a selection of the production's set-design blueprints, photographs of physical set-models, and onset stills, all reprinted in high-resolution courtesy of the Danish Film Institute; a detailed technical note on the MoC restoration, versions presented, and frame-rates presented; and rare and archival imagery.