The Passion Of Joan of Arc
Thursday, August 10, 2017
Little piece I did for my COM 438 Nonverbal Communication Assignment #1. We were made to watch the Passion of Joan of Arc (in all its b&w glory), identify several nonverbal cues, and discuss if the director was successful in conveying his intended message.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Overview
The Passion of Joan of Arc was filmed in 1928 and at that time, technology wasn’t as advanced as it is now, in the 21st century. However, the director, Carl Theodor Dreyer, managed to create a masterpiece with what little resources he had, as well as with his immense creativity. He created a black and white silent film (without any audible dialogue or musical score), but the audience are still able to follow the story easily. He made use of environment, namely shadows, light, and setting to create the mood, as well as the use of different camera angles to show us who the dominant character is, as well as vignette, so as to give the audience the illusion that they’re really there at the scene, watching the trial through a peephole. Even though there’s no audible dialogue, the audience are still able to roughly gauge what the actors are saying and feeling, through their facial expressions, oculesics, and body language. We are able to feel the pain of Joan of Arc and emphasize with her in her last few agonizing days on Earth. The use of non-verbal expressions and behaviour works in his favour as expressions that depict emotions are easily understood across all cultures, for example, when we see tears roll out of Joan’s eyes and her mouth drooping slightly, we know that she is filled with pain and sadness. When we see her eyes widen, we know she’s either filled with horror or shock.
Technique #1
At 19:21 of the video, the scene depicts Joan having a mental breakdown in her holding cell. There is a quick onset of her sadness when she first sinks into the bed. Tears roll down her eyes, her whole body shivers and mouth quivers, while the inner corners of her eyebrows are raised. We’re also aware of the psychological changes going on in her mind as she’s trying to pull herself together when she shuts her eyes, probably trying to control her tears, and her hand on her mouth looks like she’s trying to control her involuntary quivers. However, it does not really work well for her because her tears escalate and her nose is runny. She’s seen trying to recollect herself over and over but her anguish controls her. We are able to understand how she feels, and what she’s thinking, because the stages of grief and sadness is universal. It’s almost as if she’s resigned to her fate until she sees a shadow of the cross on the floor, probably created by the window of the cell. It’s likened to a symbol of hope for her and she manages to pull herself together and her tears manage to stop, and her mouth curls upwards into a smile.
There’s also the use of the Kuleshov Effect during this scene, when the scene changes from the cross, to her facial expression, to the cross, and back to her facial expression again. With the director using this method, we are able to better deduce her change in emotions, also because we have an in-built, biological understanding of how emotions work within a series of events, that Joan does not need to blatantly say she is happy and has found solace in seeing the cross on the floor. We are able to feel her peace. There’s also a 2 factor theory displayed here, whereby the stimulus is the shadow of the window (the cross), her bodily arousal is showed by her peaceful expression and smile, her cognitive interpretation is that there still is hope, and lastly, the emotion she feels is peace.
Technique #2
At 35:13, the director makes use of the environment and camera angles to create the mood in the torture chamber scene. Throughout majority of the scenes in the movie, thus far, and even after this seen, when Joan appears on screen, it’s always from a high camera angle, where we’re looking down on her. In a way, it’s to signify that everyone is talking down to her as she’s seen as a convict and liar in their eyes. However, in this particular scene, it starts off with him doing a full shot of the room, which looks rather large, cold, and bare (with the exception of the judges, spectators, and torture instruments), with a small door in the corner for entry and exit. The coldness, which is depicted by the plain coloured walls and bareness of the room, somehow instils in us a sense of foreboding that something bad is about to happen to Joan. Despite the room not being cluttered, there is still a sense of constrain, probably due to the fact that there is a degree of formality in the situation. When she first enters the doorway, she looks extremely small in comparison with the size of the room. She also almost looks out of place. It’s a rare shot where we see a full body shot of Joan, and it makes her look more vulnerable and alone than usual. She is also made to sit on a stool, which puts her on a lower pedestal compared to the other characters. This really almost shows that she’s likened to vermin, because of the fact that they want her lower to the ground. There’s also an aspect of dominance being displayed, whereby Joan has the lack thereof, due to her position, hence, this also makes it easier for the judges to torment and bully her with quick-fire questions and they almost succeed in making her sign the contract in the process.
Technique #3
At 41:26, we see an example dominance being displayed by one of the priests. Here, the director makes use of a low camera angle, so he’s seen as larger than usual. The fact that he’s standing on a higher step while the guard is standing on a lower step also attributes to this and tells us that he is of a higher authoritative status as compared to the guard. In other scenes, the same camera technique has been seen on him, and the way he portrays himself (with his chest puffed out and chin high) and speaks (quick and stern, with the intention of getting what he wants, as well as how he talks down to Joan) also further displays his dominance. There are also scenes whereby he sits on a high platform, and this somehow creates a distance between himself, the other spectators, and Joan, to show that his authority and that it is his territory, and has no intention whatsoever of getting close to her, or even a slight bit of compassion. He exudes mainly over-dominance and coldness, and the director has been successful in depicting this.
Also, the fact that he’s wearing the white vestment of a priest disproves the theory that “bad guys wear black”. He’s not even wearing black, hence, the hypothesis that he’s perceived as malevolent, or that he acts the way he does is because of the colour he wears is false. Also, Sheldon (1940’s) theory on body types where he states that endomorphs are perceived as heavier, slower, and calmer is false, as in previous scenes, he’s been seen as displaying hot-temperedness and anger. This proves that every theory is definitely falsifiable.
-
0 comments