Joan of Arc

It's a cold, lonely world when I can't read other peoples' blogs. I'm still being shut out from blogspot.com by my computer. I'm thinking that maybe it's an issue with the security level setting on my computer, but I still haven't been able to solve the problem. While we were visiting Louisiana, I could read my favorite blogs, but even then I had problems with their filter. I was blocked from my book worm blog because of "hate/violence," but my mom showed me how to override the filter.

But, enough of that. A few weeks ago, my library purchased the silent French film The Passion of Joan of Arc. In fact, I was really impressed with the library because only a few weeks after I requested that they buy the movie, I got a message saying they had it on hold for me. Now that's what I call service.

Anyway, I've always wanted to see a silent film, but I've never been motivated enough to get my hands on one. They're sort of hard to come by, but then I guess I've never looked that hard. Joan of Arc is a sufficiently intriguing person though--enough so to motivate me to request the film from my library (I still wasn't willing to pay to watch a silent film). And I have to say that the film exceeded my expectations.

I'm no expert on movies; I just like watching them and picking them apart in the same way that I pick apart books. Anyone who also enjoys film as an art form, whether they're as much of a novice regarding the craft as I am or more of a film buff, should check out this film. This eighty-minute film covers the interrogation of Joan and then her burning at the stake. I wondered if the interrogation would be boring, but I found that I really enjoyed the experience of trying to glean emotion from expression and subtle details. I assumed that all of the dialogue would be spelled out for me with those frames of text, but I discovered instead that I was expected to do some lip reading and that I didn't need to know every word spoken to understand the action of the film. Admittedly, it took me about half of the film to realize that Joan was saying "oui." I kept looking for the familiar shape of "yes" on her lips. Lots of film critics have much more to say about the film, but I just wanted to mention it as a fascinating piece of film history.