On the evening of April 21, 92 years ago, at the palace theater in Copenhagen, Denmark, a highly anticipated silent film had just finished its premiere, and the audience reacted differently, and the critics' collective attitude was ambiguous, so that the director began to doubt his performance.
"Am I going too far?"
He did go a little far. This biographical film, called Joan of Arc (1928), is mostly made up of close-ups.
At the time— and still is today — close-ups were basically used in important climactic passages or to express the strong emotions and emotions of the characters.
Joan of Arc led the French army against the British invasion but was eventually captured and executed, a short but magnificent life, but the Danish director named Carl Theodore Dreier, turned into one huge face after another on the screen, Joan of Arc and the judges who tried her, unspoiled, real faces, or sad or confused or vicious or cunning.
After the premiere, a review relentlessly criticized: "Ordinary viewers will feel exhausted." ”
92 years later, not only has "Joan of Arc of Monty" become the last glory and classic treasure of the silent film, but the French actress Maria Falconetti, who played Joan of Arc, has been praised by pauline Kyle, a well-known Film Critic in the United States, for "probably the best performance in film history." ”
However, this does not change the fact that it is an unconventional, atypical film.
For today's audience, the silent film itself is already daunting, and this film is so unique and puzzling, as film scholar David Podwell put it in his book Dreyer's Film, "one of the most bizarre and obscure films ever made", although if you watch the whole film patiently, you may find it so moving and aesthetically appealing and impactful.
This article will try to restore the origin and concept of Dreyer's close-up at that time, and how he and Falconetti collaborated to complete a legendary film portrait of faces and souls.
It has never been seen before, nor has it come after it.
Dazed, frightened, nervous, desperate, sad, calm, determined, confused, numb, religious... We have never seen an actor perform so many and so close to the "emoticons" in a movie.
In terms of plot, Joan of Arc is driven by one interrogation dialogue after another, while in terms of emotion and emotional transmission, it is driven by the performances of actors, especially Maria Falconetti.
In order to show a sense of realism, director Carl Theodore DeLayer asked all actors, including Falconetti, not to wear makeup, a practice that was extremely rare in the era of silent films.
Joan of Arc has been commented as a "soul drama" in which "the struggle takes place between the eyebrows."
In this regard, Dreier once said: "The close-up shows the villain's heart hidden behind the mask of hypocritical sympathy of the judges with harsh realism— in contrast to the close-up of Joan of Arc, whose pure face shows that her strength comes precisely from God Himself." As the judges' makeupless faces shone with hatred for Joan of Arc that filled the entire screen, the close-up enhanced the effect of realism. Confused and engrossed, the audience followed the battle between Joan of Arc and the judge in a power disparity. ”
In a 1967 interview, Dreier considered Falconetti's performance in Joan of Arc to be the most satisfying of his career as a director, and for joan of Arc's countless tears in the film, Dreier said: "Falconetti's tears were shed voluntarily – from the heart. ”
Falconetti not only admired Dreier, but also told the Danish media after the premiere of "Joan of Arc", hoping that "this is not the last cooperation between me and your genius compatriots."
Sadly, Falconetti has never acted in a movie since. At the outbreak of World War II, her intention to immigrate to the United States was rejected, and in 1946, impoverished, she had a nervous breakdown and ended her life in Brazil, the cause of which is unknown.
In 1926, Carl Theodore Dreyer, who had transformed from newspaper reporter to film director, had completed eight genre-rich and distinctive films, and often made a name for himself, so that he not only rose to fame in Europe, but also became a great success in the recent work "The Lord of a House" at the French box office.
So a French film company invited him to go to France to make a film, and Dreier proposed three subjects of interest, including the story of Marie Antoinette, queen of King Louis XVI of France, and Catherine de Medici, queen of King Henry II of France, but finally chose to adapt the story of Joan of Arc.
In order to devote himself fully to the new work, the always rigorous and serious Dreier moved his family to Paris and began a year-and-a-half-long, extremely detailed preliminary data collection.
Due to Joan of Arc's posthumous canonization as a Catholic saint in 1920, there was a wave of research on Joan of Arc in France, but unfortunately, Dreyer was not satisfied with the material he could see, including the novel featuring Joan of Arc, until he saw in the library the original document of Joan of Arc's capture and trial and eventual burning, which contained 29 interrogation conversations over 18 months. After memorizing the trial record, Dreyer decided to use it as a model for telling Joan of Arc's story.
Decades after suffering the notoriety of being a "wayward director" for filming Joan of Arc, Dreier explained why he used close-ups so extremely to make the film what André Bazin called a "record of faces" -
"In writing the script for Joan of Arc, I was well aware of the details of the trial, the treacherous conduct of the religious judges in interrogating Joan of Arc, and Joan of Arc's wonderful answers from the heart. The script presents a heart-wrenching scene: the trial becomes a face-to-face confrontation, with Joan of Arc, who is lonely but brave enough to answer questions, and joan of Arc, who is devilish and cunning, trying to capture her into the snare. This face-to-face confrontation can only be explained on the screen through large close-ups. ”
In previous films, Dreyer often combined spatially shaping shots with close-up shots (some scholars believe that this reflects the traditional European styles of interior painting and portraiture, respectively). "The Party Is Different" made him feel the great charm of close-up shots, and he also felt that this technique could make the film distinctly different from the stage play, so he often inserted large close-ups in his own films.
During the preparation of Joan of Arc, he thought that the more he became familiar with Joan of Arc, the more he continued to try to find out the motives behind all her actions, and in the end, he chose to express the "soul" of Joan of Arc and the Judges, trying to show through close-ups that "the people in medieval tragedy, behind their costumes, are the same people as you and me".
Dreier once said: "It is definitely a misunderstanding that Joan of Arc is wrongly described as a pioneering film. It's not a film about theory, it appeals to human nature. It was shot for the masses, or rather, it tried to open the hearts and minds of every viewer. ”
Of course, Dreyer was not unaware that this practice would confuse the audience's viewing habits or go against the popular cinematic methods or ideas of the time, but he still resolutely believed that "close-ups are absolutely necessary", and further elaborated:
"If I hadn't used close-ups to guide the viewer into the mind and soul of Joan of Arc and the judge, I wouldn't have known how to tell the story of Joan of Arc's trial and death. ...... Only close-ups can show all this with a shocking effect. The cornerstone of Joan of Arc is not the scene, but the meticulous depiction of the soul. ”
Dreyer's purpose is very pure and clear, but it is also full of bold adventure. "Ask, answer, ask, answer. One question and one answer, all close-up, short and crisp. The audience will be as shocked and tormented as Joan of Arc..."
In his opinion, this is the only way to stimulate the audience and lead them to concentrate "until they feel the pain that Joan of Arc experienced firsthand." ”
Although in order to highlight the impact of the close-up, or, as David Podwell put it, to reinforce Joan of Arc as the absolute core of the overall narrative, Joan of Arc is quite radical and deliberately presents a sense of perverse fragmentation and chaos in terms of composition, spatial representation, and editing logic, Deleille is very careful to show Joan of Arc being "trapped" in the midst of the inquisitor's encirclement and violent oppression.
Sandwiched in the center of the screen by the gun guard from the moment she appears, in the few multiplayer shots of Joan of Arc with the trial judge in the later film, Joan of Arc has been in a weak position on the screen, and even in single shots, whenever she talks to the trial judge, Delaier has designed many shots of Joan of Arc using a look-up posture and the trial judge adopting a downward posture. It's clear which is stronger and which is weaker.
In addition, most of the judges' shots present aggressive compositions and angles, or they are often trapped by various lines in the picture. Not only the composition and scene scheduling, in order to increase the contrast between them and Joan of Arc, Dreyier also shot the former with high-intensity lighting, shooting Joan of Arc with softer and more uniform lighting.
During Joan of Arc's imprisonment, although there is no conclusive historical evidence that she was raped by the guards or the British nobility, Dreyer still showed the sexual intentions of the ugly and obscene guards against Joan of Arc in a very subtle way, such as the scene of the guards picking the grass crown with a long sword, which is quite shocking.
It is said that since "Joan of Arc" is a silent film, the actor's lines are not recorded on the spot during filming, so Eugene Sylvan, who plays Bishop Kochon in the film, sometimes speaks obscene words during filming in order to play a prank, in an attempt to make Maria Falconetti laugh.
This was harshly rebuked by Dreier, and Falconetti, who had been immersed in the role, was also very angry, and her thoughts were consistent with Dreye's: "You have to say the lines, that is, what the judges said in the trial." The audience can't hear the sound, but they can see it! ”
Dreier was extremely obsessed with the actor's face. Not only the actors, but in Dreyer's eyes, "the human face is wonderful, and it is rarely tasteless." The human face has always fascinated me the most. It's really inspiring to let the face reveal the inside. ”
After settling on a close-up of Joan of Arc, Dreyer's first job was to find a joan of Arc, or a face that fascinated him.
But for months, he was helpless. The popular French actress recommended by the film company for commercial reasons was either picky and could not be looked at, or he was frightened by his insistence on shaving his head. Dreyer firmly believes that only when an actor "becomes" a character can he stand the test of close-up. He insisted on waiting, even expecting the appearance of his "Joan of Arc" at a banquet or a walk.
Until someone recommended him to go to the Paris Theater to see a stage comedy, starring Maria Falconetti may have a play. One night, the suspicious Dreier arrives at the theater, vaguely discovers something fascinating and mysterious in Falconetti, and immediately decides to meet her.
At that time, Falconetti was 34 years old (Joan of Arc was 19 years old when he was righteous), and his appearance was not very beautiful, but he had experienced the failure of film auditions. When she first met Dreyer, she directly said that she was not suitable for film: "I am uglier than you think." ”
But Dreier ignored it completely, and, according to Falconetti recalled: "He walked around me, looked at me from all angles, pulled my hair behind my head, and observed me more closely than all the people before." ”
After much observation, Dreier was convinced that Falconetti was the face he had been looking for: "Behind it, behind its elegant modern appearance and heavy makeup, I saw too much connotation. She is my Joan of Arc, a sincere country girl, a woman in suffering. ”
Falconetti was eventually persuaded by Dreyer. This will be her second and last appearance in the film. Only this time, she will leave a face of timeless and astonishingly strange beauty for the film and for humanity.
On set, Dreyer and Falconetti were very much in tune.
First of all, this is thanks to Dreier's care for Falconetti, in order to ensure that she can be undistracted, Deliet will ask for as few people as possible, and when shooting shots that are considered most important, he will also order clearance, absolute silence, and even surround the screen.
Secondly, Dreier has always maintained a healthy communication with Falconetti, more than to guide her how to become Joan of Arc.
Before filming, Dreier would discuss with her and then rehearse, according to Dreye recalled: "It only took a few times and it was perfect. Some directors will perform it themselves and then expect the actor to imitate him. That didn't work for me because I wasn't an actor. ”
Directed by Carl Theodore Dreyer
In addition, Dreier would invite Falconetti to watch the finished samples to determine how she performed. Subtly, Dreier deeply infected Falconetti.
Both the close-ups and Dreyer's directing technique helped Falconetti complete a difficult performance, and Dreyer's assistant once said: "She got rid of all the shackles, let the feelings gush out from the unconscious level and recorded on her face." ”
Years later, Falconetti's daughter, Elena Falconetti, saw her mother this way: "She was pushed to the limit, she had forgotten who she was, and she felt that she was Joan of Arc." ”
It is worth mentioning that because Falconetti's performance is constantly being shocked, the outside world has been rumored that Dreyer tortured and even hurt her on the set, and even led to her insanity.
The rumors not only did not stop, but also once put Dreyer in a dilemma of "difficulty in cooperating with people", and later, he helplessly and angrily clarified: "Saying that I use hypnosis or physical torture is pure nonsense." We just sat down like two well-behaved kids and watched the work sample over and over again, and she did it right. ”
Note: This article refers heavily to and quotes from Passion in Crucifixion: The Life and Film of Carl Delaise (co-authored by Jean Dram and Dale Dram) and highly recommends it to interested readers.