#Carl Dreyer

[tunasaladonwhite]

[bnnvll]

[barnabyjamesedwards]

Barnaby Edwards - Vampyr

(charcoal on paper, 2023)

For more of Barnaby's drawings and paintings of classic movies, click here.

Prints of this are available from RedBubble

[5starcinema]

The Passion of Joan of Arc

(1928, Denmark-France, silent, directed by Carl Dreyer)

Carl Dreyer's legendary picture about the martyr Joan of Arc has been cloaked in mystery from the day its production began. French nationalists were concerned that such a controversial project was being carried out on French soil by avant garde (read: non-Catholic) artists. Predictably, censors severely edited the film for its French premiere. Meanwhile, Dreyer's original version was destroyed in a fire. After the director composed an identical second print from remaining elements, a second fire destroyed that print. As the notes in the Criterion DVD version of the film point out, Dreyer's film endured the same fate as Joan herself: judges, scissors, and fire.

Over decades, badly altered and "musically enhanced" versions could be seen in theaters, and Dreyer is said to have been devastated by the sorry state of affairs. He died believing that his greatest work had been lost forever. However, in 1981, someone discovered in an office closet several canisters of film, one of which contained an original print . The office was located in a mental institution in Oslo, Norway.

For almost half a century, the only audiences enjoying an authentic version of this marvelous film were comprised of the mentally ill and their caretakers. Yet there's an uncanny consistency in that fact. Renee Falconetti, the actress who portrays Joan, is said to have never worked in motion pictures again because she was so emotionally spent by the experience (she did suffer some emotional breakdowns during and after production).

Another key player, Antonin Artaud, the Dada-Surrealist wild child, opium fiend, and Theatre of the Absurd founder, was eventually institutionalized (after a short and notorious career) because he was tormented by "voices." All of the bizarre circumstances of the film's history notwithstanding, Dreyer's work remains a landmark example of cinema as art.

Regarding its impact—primarily through a highly stylized conveyance of a real event—Jean Cocteau commented, "It seems like an historical document from an era in which the cinema didn't exist."

Dreyer's achievement is remarkable considering that he abandoned every common cinematic technique that might convey anything approaching reality. Art director Hermann Warm (The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari) found inspiration in the primitive art of illuminated manuscripts, in which perspective is entirely ignored. The result is an Expressionist take on medieval art (a successful convergence of Surrealism and medieval minimalism, one could argue) manifested in one of the most peculiar sets in film history. In this realm, physical structures, light, and angles do not observe geometry, and it is not possible to perceive their scale in relation to the actors.

The "geometry" and rhythm commonly associated with motion pictures are also absent from Dreyer's work. Spatial relationships between actors are seldom consistent, if they can be determined at all. There are no establishing shots as such, and cuts from one player to another do not always match dialogue or action. Most of the shots are close-ups of faces—but what amazing faces they are. Gifted veterans from the French stage are captured in carefully sustained, intricately detailed shots, and the result is unforgettable. Except for a few brief glimpses, almost none of the set is visible.

Dreyer's production notes indicate that he merely wished to employ a set that could immerse his actors in a milieu that might emotionally transport them to the historical setting. That speaks to Dreyer's confidence considering that he was working with gifted set designers at the peak of their talents. Notes also suggest that the disorienting visual style works at "unmooring from the present" the imaginations of viewers.

This method provides a stunning emotional immediacy appropriate to a historical subject. The resulting series of images is also beautiful (that's hardly surprising with cinematographer Rudolph Maté at the helm), and at some point it is uncertain if the film seems like a work of art because we are so disoriented, or if encountering such a deeply satisfying image disorients us. Add to this Renee Falconetti's performance, which utterly defies comparison, and you have a rare motion picture experience.

[streamondemand]

'Ordet' – Carl Dreyer searches for grace on Criterion Collection

One of the most powerful and profound films about faith ever made, Carl Dreyer’s Ordet (Denmark, 1955) (which translates to “The Word”) turns a Romeo and Juliet story into a passionately spiritual drama of love and acceptance. Anders (Cay Kristiansen) and Anne (Gerda Nielsen) are young lovers in rural farming community, he the son of proud farmer Morten (Henrik Malberg), she the only daughter of…

[amatesura]

VAMPYR (1932) | dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer

[bwallure]

THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer

[thevelvetgoldmine]

VAMPYR (1932) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer

[limeshade]

THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928) La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer Cinematography by Rudolph Maté

[cosmonautroger]

Vampyr, Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1932

[beingharsh]

La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928), dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer / Martyrs (2008), dir. Pascal Laugier

[feedingicetothedog]

"But then he is so good at grieving! He wears woe as others wear velvet; sorrow flatters him like the light of candles; tears become him like jewels.”

(w. crystal tears and vampire tears variations) inspired by this veil

[classicfilmblr]

Vampyr (1932) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer

[weirdlookindog]

Vampyr (1932)

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[Note: This poll is a re-do of an older poll, as the original poll received less than 2,000 votes.]

[cinematicmasterpiece]

la passion de jeanne d'arc (1928)