ensures that Dreyer’s vision—once burned, once lost, and miraculously found—will never fade again. To watch this disc is not merely to watch a movie; it is to sit in a darkened room with a martyr and hear the silence scream.
The film’s journey to preservation is as dramatic as its subject matter. Upon its 1928 premiere in Copenhagen, the original negative was considered a masterpiece. However, after a disastrous fire at the studio, the original master was believed lost forever.
Dreyer’s direction is radical even by today’s standards. Abandoning the sweeping landscapes of contemporary epics, he constructed a claustrophobic, abstract castle set and shot almost entirely in extreme close-ups. The film’s visual language is brutally simple: walls of white plaster, tilted angles, and the raw, tear-streaked terrain of Falconetti’s face. You don’t watch her suffer; you inhabit her suffering. The Passion of Joan of Arc -1928- Criterion 108...
Criterion’s Blu-ray release (Spine #62, upgraded to DVD/Blu-ray) is the gold standard for home viewing. Here is what makes the transfer essential:
One of the most common complaints about silent films on home video is the “jerky” or “sped-up” motion. This is often due to incorrect projection speeds. Criterion’s 1080p edition presents the film at the proper 20-24 frames per second (adjustable), which allows for the natural, flowing movement of Falconetti’s performance. In 1080p clarity, the nuance of her breaking down—from defiant soldier to broken martyr—is heartbreakingly real. ensures that Dreyer’s vision—once burned, once lost, and
The production design, led by Hermann Warm (who also designed the expressionist sets for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ), consisted of stark, white-washed plaster walls and arches. The set was built to scale, but it feels oppressive and disjointed. Dreyer famously tiled the floor to guide the actors' movements, creating a sense of disorientation. He shot the film almost entirely on location within these constructed walls, using natural light to cast long, dagger-like shadows.
However, the defining characteristic of the film’s visual language is the close-up. Dreyer abandoned the establishing shot. He rarely steps back to show the geography of the room. Instead, he pushes the camera right up to the faces of his actors. In the Criterion 1080p transfer, this proximity is visceral. The camera becomes an interrogation tool, scrutinizing every twitch of an eyelid. Upon its 1928 premiere in Copenhagen, the original
from a long-lost original print famously rediscovered in a Norwegian mental institution in 1981. Criterion Collection’s 1080p Blu-ray
The trailing “108” in your search phrase is almost certainly shorthand for . Here is why this matters technically for The Passion of Joan of Arc :
It wasn't until 1981 that a miracle occurred. A virtually complete print of the original Danish version was discovered in a mental institution in Oslo, Norway. This discovery—often called the "Oslo print"—allowed film historians to finally restore the film to Dreyer’s intended structure. This restoration is the foundation of the Criterion Collection’s release.
If you are searching for (likely shorthand for the Criterion Blu-ray’s 1080p AVC encoded image), you are about to discover why this particular release is not just a home video upgrade, but a religious experience in digital form.
