The Passion of Joan of Arc @ Paramount Theatre, Oakland

I attended a screening of Carl Theodore Dryer's classic 1928 silent film "The Passion of Joan of Arc" this evening. The film was accompanied by a 22-piece orchestra and 100+ choristers. The musicians performed the oratorio "Voices of Light", composed some years ago by Richard Einhorn. He wrote the music specifically to accompany this film.

Anyone who knows the story of Joan of Arc knows that there's no happy ending here. Her sufferings, graphically depicted onscreen are harrowing to behold. Maria Falconetti's performance as Joan has become legendary. Some hail it as the greatest film performance of all time. Her visage is magnetic. It feels as though she's disintegrating before your eyes.

My father is notoriously close-minded in terms of films he'll watch. His classic line is: "Why would I pay to watch a movie that challenges me? My job challenges me enough, and they pay me!" He definitely wouldn't have enjoyed this evening's proceedings.

Some bits of trivia:

 - "The Passion of Joan of Arc" was immensely controversial when released and was banned in several countries. The ban was based on the film's unfavorable depiction of the church's role in bringing to pass Joan's execution. 

- All prints of the film were thought lost until - random alert - a near-complete original print was discovered in 1981 in a janitor's closet of a Norwegian mental hospital. (This detail, one of the subtitles in the preface to the film, elicited the only laugh of the evening from the packed theatre.) 

- Apparently, Falconetti was ravaged by the demands of the production. She never acted in a film again.

The live musical accompaniment this evening was solid, but not spectacular. I feel bad saying that, because seemingly every other audience member jumped to their feet at the conclusion to gift the orchestra a standing ovation. Maybe I'm jaded, but one of the cellists sounded badly out of tune on one extended solo, and, in the words of uber-genius Randy Jackson, the female vocal soloists were "a little pitchy, dawg." Still, overall it was an enjoyable night of live music and highbrow cinema.

Jesse