Joan of Arc gender and surface

I decided to audit professor Craig Detwieler s new class on transcendental style films. He s connecting these slow and detailed films to a monastic and sacramental approach to viewing. I didn t intend it but it will be a great connection with the required Spirituality class I m currently taking. On Friday we watched the silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc or La Passion de Jeanne d Arc directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. I vaugely remember seeing clips of this somewhere but would have never watched the entire film on my own. Shot in ECU format extreme close up to Maria Falconetti who plays Joan it is very trying to watch as every emotion flashes across her face in painstaking detail as she s tried for heresy by manipulative clergy. Her widening eyes rolling tears and bowing head made up a majority of the film. A few things stood out to me and the first was gender. I was overwhelmed watching her integrity call and personhood put on trial largely because she was a woman. Perhap! s I was more aware of it because I was one of two females in the room of about watching the film. Regardless I was surprised how deeply I found myself engaged with a personal connection to her story. The second was the graphic nature of the film s cinematography. I felt as if every shot had been designed or composed. Characters appeared half onscreen and half off the cross in her cell s window was always strategically placed in relation to Joan s face or the clergy. In addition she was shown largely from the neck up while the clergy were shown from the waist up. Most striking were simply Joan s eyes as they expressed her deep emotion and turmoil. Detwieler likened it to observing the Christ Pantocrator Icon. After class I was processing these two aspects of the film when recent reading on gender roles within the graphic design field came sharply to mind. Veronique Vienne writes about women bringing additional attributes to graphic design that differ from their male peers. B! ut what stood out to me was Vienne s assertion that because women can biologically create life within their bodies they understand a movement inward that is additional to an outer visibility which is central for males . As a result women innately understand and create not merely a graphic surface but a graphic threshold that invites viewers to peer into the design not merely at it. I resonated with much of what she said and I agree this inward design approach is feminine however I don t think it is limited to female designers. Director Carl Theodor Dreyer certainly applied it to cinema in the Joan of Arc s passion. We were not merely watching Joan of Arc we were drawn into the story. In connection with faith I think Dreyer was also harkening to a Christian Orthodox tradition where icons are used as holy images and stir believers into deeper worship and contemplation of the divince through transcendence. This connection hints at another dimension of a gender inclusive God we don t hear much about and don t really understand how to connect to th! e feminine. Dreyer s portrayal of a female saint in such a transcendent vehicle seems very appropriate if not genius. No wonder this film still has acclaim years after it was made No comments yet. Be the first. Leave a reply name required email will not be shown required website XHTML You can use these tags Search this site Twittering. What is this weather Fog I m missing the bay day ago More updates. Powered by Twitter Tools . Photos www. flick r .com Recent Comments Kristin on google hike run Peg Powell on google hike run Jenny on Tuesday s distractions romi on New look jb on death Categories Asides Creative Culture Design Featured link resource Personal School spirituality Travel Uncategorized Blogroll Amy Kaherl Arts Concerns Committee Barry Taylor Coffee by the Books Daphne Hollinger Dave Barry Dean Callison Evan Christensen Fuller Ipp J.J. Peterson Jen Blackwell Libby Official Libby Unofficial Mark Montgomery McNelis Family President Mouw Steve Write Tara Albert Wess ! Daniels Archives April March February January December November October September August July June May April March February January December November October September Theme fSpring design by Fredrik Fahlstad Proudly powered by WordPress

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