La passion de Jeanne d'Arc 1928

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: 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. Read more

John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press: Few films have earned classic status more than Carl Dreyer's 1928 silent study of the 15th-Century teenager who helped lead French troops against the British only to be tried as a heretic. Read more

Mordaunt Hall, New York Times: It is the gifted performance of Maria Falconetti as the Maid of Orleans that rises above everything in this artistic achievement. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: When one speaks of The Passion of Joan of Arc, the first image to come to mind is the beatific face of Maria Falconetti, whose expressive features give voice to the movie's silence. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: You cannot know the history of silent film unless you know the face of Renee Maria Falconetti. Read more

Tony Rayns, Time Out: Dreyer's most universally acclaimed masterpiece remains one of the most staggeringly intense films ever made. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: Here is a deadly tiresome picture that merely makes an attempt to narrate without sound or dialog an allegedly written recorded trial in the 15th or 16th century of Joan of Arc for witchery, leading to her condemnation and burning at the stake. Read more