Joan of Arc, Metropolis, and Dr. Caligari

The marathon of silent movies still continues... This week we had to watch The Passion of Joan of Arc, Metropolis, and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. All three movies with incredible historic and artistic value. I think it is impressive that silent movies can still hold one's attention nowadays when everything is so fast and full of special effects.

In the movie The Passion of Joan of Arc, the director Carl Theodor Dreyer chose to show only her last days of imprisonment and trial, instead of showing her life and battles. Maybe the director's intention was to create a kind of documentary, since he even used the transcription of the real Joan's trial to create the dialogues in the movie. And I'm not the only one who thought about the documentary theory. In the blog White City Cinema, written by Michael Glover Smith he says:

"...his [Dreyer] style of filmmaking so pure and refined and the lead performance of Renee Falconetti so naturalistic that the first time I screened it in class, several students told me they felt like they were watching a “documentary” that had somehow been made in the 15th century."

Falconetti's performance in Joan of Arc still considered for many critics as one of the greatest in film history, silent or sound. The only thing I have to say on this topic is that I agree! She doesn't look like she's acting at all. I felt a huge agony throughout the film, even though I already knew Joan of Arc's story it was hard to not to suffer with her. Falconetti's expression is one of real pain and desolation.

From pain to craziness, one thing that really got my attention in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was the painted scenery. Some scenes looked like a mix of cartoons and live action. Impressive! In  my point of view the lights and shadows created in Dr. Caligari were intended to cause the impression of internal madness. In the article Use of Chiaroscuro Lighting in Early Cinema - Light and Shadow, the author says that "the lighting of individuals to draw attention to their inner emotions."

Metropolis also plays with light and shadows, one characteristic of the Expressionism era, the scenes on the underground world are always full of shadows - maybe to show the unhappiness of the people and the lack of hope for something better. On the upper ground scenes, in the other hand, lots of light and brightness, just like the scene in the garden - portraiting happiness and a life without worries.


References:


Dreyer, Carl Theodor. The Passion of Joan of Arc (La passion de Jeanne d'Arc). 1928

Smith, Michael Glover Smith. Blu “Passion” Flowers. White City Cinema.

Wiene, Robert. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet Des Dr. Caligari). 1920

Use of Chiaroscuro Lighting in Early Cinema - Light and Shadow http://homepage.eircom.net/~musima/lighting/earlylighting.htm#cabinet