{"id":123579,"date":"2016-11-23T06:44:38","date_gmt":"2016-11-23T11:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=123579"},"modified":"2026-04-13T21:13:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T01:13:15","slug":"the-greatest-performance-in-cinema","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=123579","title":{"rendered":"The Greatest Performance in Cinema"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123586\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123586\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/p17112_d_v8_aa.jpg\" alt=\"p17112_d_v8_aa\" width=\"960\" height=\"1440\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123586\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/p17112_d_v8_aa.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/p17112_d_v8_aa-67x100.jpg 67w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/p17112_d_v8_aa-133x200.jpg 133w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/p17112_d_v8_aa-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/p17112_d_v8_aa-267x400.jpg 267w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123589\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123589\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/get.jpeg\" alt=\"get\" width=\"1236\" height=\"676\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123589\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/get.jpeg 1236w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/get-100x55.jpeg 100w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/get-200x109.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/get-768x420.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/get-400x219.jpeg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1236px) 100vw, 1236px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123580\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123580\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/giphy-2.gif\" alt=\"giphy-2\" width=\"500\" height=\"363\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123580\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123591\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123591\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/giphy-3-1.gif\" alt=\"giphy-3\" width=\"245\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123591\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123592\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123592\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tumblr_m0jk7ifokE1qbgyx2o1_250.gif\" alt=\"tumblr_m0jk7ifoke1qbgyx2o1_250\" width=\"245\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123592\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123595\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123595\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tumblr_m6knmlUxKk1qzq9v4o1_500.gif\" alt=\"tumblr_m6knmluxkk1qzq9v4o1_500\" width=\"500\" height=\"372\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123595\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123593\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123593\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tumblr_nbkgy85h3p1qj7kyho1_r1_500.gif\" alt=\"tumblr_nbkgy85h3p1qj7kyho1_r1_500\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123593\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123594\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123594\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/xbm9nrwj6gjx.gif\" alt=\"xbm9nrwj6gjx\" width=\"537\" height=\"476\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123594\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123581\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123581\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/giphy-3.gif\" alt=\"giphy-3\" width=\"245\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123581\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123582\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123582\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/giphy-1.gif\" alt=\"giphy\" width=\"500\" height=\"380\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123582\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123583\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123583\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tumblr_m9l45q2TTt1qfg94wo1_500.gif\" alt=\"tumblr_m9l45q2ttt1qfg94wo1_500\" width=\"480\" height=\"339\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123583\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123585\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123585\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tumblr_nt3d7a13tD1qj7kyho1_500.gif\" alt=\"tumblr_nt3d7a13td1qj7kyho1_500\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123585\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?attachment_id=123584\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123584\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tumblr_mbp9xjqTAw1qbpdcto1_500.gif\" alt=\"tumblr_mbp9xjqtaw1qbpdcto1_500\" width=\"500\" height=\"294\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123584\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Renee Falconetti in <i>The Passion of Joan of Arc<\/i>, directed by Carl Dreyer (1928)<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Actors should at least know that the bar was set. A long long time ago.<\/p>\n<p>Pauline Kael: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>One of the greatest of all movies. The director, Carl Dreyer, based the script on the trial records, and the testimony appears to be given for the first time. (Cocteau wrote that this film \u201cseems like an historical document from an era in which the cinema didn\u2019t exist.\u201d) As the five gruelling cross-examinations follow each other, Dreyer turns the camera on the faces of Joan and the judges, and in giant close-ups he reveals his interpretation of their emotions. In this enlargement Joan and her persecutors are shockingly fleshly \u2013 isolated with their sweat, warts, spittle, and tears, and (as no one used makeup) with startlingly individual contours, features, and skin. No other film has so subtly linked eroticism with religious persecution. Maria Falconetti\u2019s Joan may be the finest performance ever recorded on film. With Silvain as Cauchon, Michel Simon, Andre Berley, Maurice Schutz, and the young Antonin Artaud \u2013 as Massieu he\u2019s the image of passionate idealism. The staging, and the cinematography by Rudolph Mate, are in a style that suggests the Stations of the Cross. The film is silent but as you often see the (French) words forming you may have the illusion that you\u2019ve heard them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Renee Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc, directed by Carl Dreyer (1928) Actors should at least know that the bar was set. A long long time ago. Pauline Kael: One of the greatest of all movies. The director, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=123579\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,4],"tags":[1358],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123579"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=123579"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123597,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123579\/revisions\/123597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=123579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=123579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=123579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}