For our first full-fledged movie chat is about Mia’s pick… ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc.’ Directed by Carl Dreyer, the movie depicts the final days of Joan of Arc, as she was held captive by the English and stands trial at the hands of clerics who doubt her claims of being an agent of God. In it, Maria Falconetti, as Joan, depicts a would-be saint struggling to keep her faith in the face of persecution and death. As a film, it's known for its heavy reliance on close-ups, especially those of Falconetti, as you see every raw emotion on her face from moment to moment. Dreyer, a Danish filmmaker, was invited by a French company to make the film – which was itself controversial among many of the French, who believed the story of such a hero of France should be told by a French filmmaker. Almost immediately, after the film was finished, it was compromised through censorship and fire, leaving versions of the film that Dryer was unhappy with as the ones that people mainly saw for years. Even then, though, it was still considered a critical success and even a quick classic.

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