#62 is widely regarded as one of the finest films in Cinema, and I think it's our first silent film?
The Passion of Joan of Arc is a masterful film about closeups - costumes/sets are sorta shortchanged here - more like an artistic mockup of a real castle/rooms/inquisition than an authentic set piece and I heard the costumes are the same
But this film's primary focus (and an unusual one for a silent film) is on the closeup - especially the closeups of Renée Falconetti who we won't see again in the movies. Her acting here is astonishing as with just her face, she conveys a full range of extreme emotion from fear to terror and joy - all with those eyes that seem almost angelic upon closeup
There are some great stories about this film (discussed in the extra) - about how the first negative was lost in a fire and they rebuilt the film using ALTERNATE takes - eventually THAT version was lost - and some versions had extra cuts and missing scenes cause the Church objected -
fast forward to 1981 and a copy is found in an Oslo closet of the first print - no one is sure why, but it's the first negative with all scenes intact, so we get this wonderful print here.
Also some interesting essays about 20 vs 24 frames a second (personally I was fine with 24 and 100 minutes is a little long for me on a silent film - I prefer 80 - LOL) - and lots of soundtracks - 3 separate ones you can use and audio commentary
Like Autumn Sonata, I think every aspiring actor/actress could watch this film and realize just how much the face can and should give you - good stuff
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