Plasma Productions

The Passion of Joan of Arc

Scene Analysis - The Torture Chamber

by Matthew Elton

copyright 2009 Matthew Elton

Note: This scene is available on Youtube here

The scene lasts six minutes and seven seconds (Youtube: 4:08-10:13).

    Halfway through The Passion of Joan of Arc, the torture chamber scene introduces new stylistic elements designed to further the plot by producing a rise in tension, suspense, and story action.  In the first half of The Passion of Joan of Arc, the French military commander Joan of Arc is interrogated by an ecclesiastical court, having been taken prisoner in England.  This first half of the story is drawn out to an approximate thirty-five minutes in length.  It features little action and is composed primarily of dialogue presented through the use of intertitles.  In this first act of the film, we see little of the castle setting in which the story takes place, because the great majority of camera shots are closeups on Joan’s face or the faces of her persecutors.  Now, about halfway through the total length of the film, a new scene begins that will mark a significant turning point in story events as the film style changes to contrast the style of the preceding interrogation.

    We will call this new scene “The Torture Chamber” because it begins with an intertitle that states “The torture chamber.”  The film then cuts to a long shot of the chamber itself - one of the first shots in the film where the camera is far enough away from the actors that the setting can be clearly seen.  This shot is important because it serves as an establishing shot that reveals a change in setting.  If the editor had cut from the preceding closeup on Joan’s face in the prison cell to a closeup on the interrogator’s face in the torture chamber, the audience would have no way of knowing that a change in setting had occurred, since the faces would take up most of the screen and not enough of the setting would be visible in the frame for the audience to notice the change.  Since the editor cut to a long shot of the chamber, the audience can see most of the chamber in the frame, and understand that this is a new setting being introduced into the film.

    Initially, the members of the ecclesiastical court stand in the foreground, blocking much of the background.  As they sit down, however, the background can be clearly seen over their heads.  This is one of the first shots in the film where there is considerable depth of field and contrast between foreground and background.  This depth of field serves important stylistic purposes that advance the story action.  Far in the background, a door can be seen, slightly off center in order to suggest tension by avoiding symmetry.  By framing the members of the court in the foreground sitting down and looking at the door in the background, the mise-en-scene suggests that the door will play some importance in the plot.  A moment later, a man walks through the door, followed by Joan of Arc herself.

    Joan’s entrance is startling for several reasons.  Firstly, the camera does not cut to a closeup on her face, but remains in a long shot.  This is startling because the audience has come to expect closeups of Joan.  In the past thirty-five minutes of the film, every shot of Joan was a closeup or at least a medium closeup.  Now we see, for the first time, her entire body.  Many aspects of mise-en-scene are utilized here to make Joan appear frail and helpless in the hands of her captors.  First, the men in the foreground take up the majority of the frame, making Joan’s body (in the distant background) seem to be very small in comparison.  In the foreground, men are standing on the left and right sides of the frame, and more men are sitting down in the middle foreground of the frame.  All of the men in the foreground are lit with low-key lighting.  As a result, Joan’s small body seems to be boxed-in and literally surrounded by the large, ominous silhouettes of the members of the ecclesiastical court.

    Second, the doorway is unnaturally tall, making Joan seem unnaturally short in comparison.  Finally, and perhaps most startlingly, the man who enters ahead of Joan is also very tall, making Joan seem very short as she enters and stands next to him.  The acting also contributes to the perception of Joan’s frailness.  The man who enters ahead of Joan enters the room easily and casually.  Joan, however, enters slowly, and takes hold of the doorpost with her hands in order to support herself.  In contrast to the man who enters before her, Joan seems weary and disoriented.

    The film then cuts to another long shot that establishes the torture chamber from another perspective.  A man stands in the foreground with many torture instruments in the background.  The film cuts to another angle in which the camera pans to follow another man who holds a chair high in the air, then sets it down to for Joan to sit in, and tells her (through an intertitle) to “regard your judges.”  Now that the setting has been established from two long shots that present the torture chamber from two different angles, a series of closeups establishes the characters in the setting, starting with a closeup on Joan’s terrified face, and then cutting to a pan of the faces of the members of the court, who stand indignantly, looking down upon Joan.  These shots contrast one another because the closeups of Joan are shot from a high angle, looking down upon Joan, while the shots of the court members are shot from a low angle, making them appear to tower over the camera.  This contrast intensifies the perception that Joan is small and weak, while her captors who surround her are tall and powerful.

    This style of cinematography continues throughout the interrogation in which the members of the ecclesiastical court accuse Joan of following the devil.  As the interrogation continues, the length of the shots becomes shorter and shorter.  After each line of dialogue, the film cuts to a closeup of Joan’s face, revealing her terrified reactions.  Through Renee Maria Falconetti’s incredible acting performance, we see overwhelming fear in Joan’s face, but with each successive closeup, fear gives way into an almost blissful passion in which Joan stares blankly up into empty space, as if she can see something that is not there, or something that the members of the court cannot see.  It is as if she is staring up at the glory of heaven itself.  Joan’s heavy breathing - which causes her shoulders to move up and down visibly - at first signals intense fear, but as her facial expressions change, her heavy breathing seems more like a sign of ecstasy.

    The film crosscuts between these closeups of Joan’s emotion-laden face and the faces of the court members, who seem increasingly concerned.  The camera pans from one man to another as the court members look at one another in bewilderment, not knowing what to make of Joan’s unresponsive stare and her bulging, unblinking eyes that seem to be looking up into heaven.  An occasional closeup of Joan from a low angle now makes her appear stronger and almost defiant.  The film cuts to a closeup of Joan’s hand as she is handed a pen and asked to sign a confession to admit that she is a follower of the devil.  A man’s hand turns the paper and points to the line where Joan is supposed to sign.  The film then cuts to another man who looks on in anticipation, but then cuts back to a closeup of Joan’s face, in which Joan is still staring upward into oblivion, as if she has not even looked down at the paper.  The cutting then becomes even faster, cutting back and and forth between short clips of the court members and the closeup of Joan’s face.  This rapid cutting contrasts the long take that began the scene, creating a heightened sense of excitement.  The court is now in an uproar because of Joan’s defiance - the court members are no longer standing still, but moving about and talking quickly, as if in a panic.  In contrast, Joan’s face remains unchanging.  She does not even look down at the paper.  She continues to stare off into space, as if oblivious to the chaos around her.  The film cuts to a closeup of her hand as she sets down the pen in blatant defiance of the court.

    The film then cuts to a medium closeup of the apparent leader of the court, who stands up.  The camera does not move, but tilts to keep his head in the center of the frame.  The film cuts back to Joan’s face, then cuts back to the court leader from a new angle in which the camera is located down near his feet and pointed almost straight up at him.  The resulting effect is that the leader of court seems to grow in size and power, towering over the camera and Joan.  Simultaneously, the soundtrack escalates in crescendo to add even more power to the rising tension of the scene.  Finally, intertitles are juxtaposed between these shots, presenting terrifying words that also contribute to the tension: “The Church opens its arms to you, but if you reject it, the Church will abandon you, and you will be alone... alone!”  The film then cuts to a closeup on Joan’s face as she tilts her head even higher and stares almost straight up at such a steep angle that it seems she must be looking over the court leader’s head, no matter how tall he is standing.  As Joan stares at the sky, intertitles present her bold words: “Yes, alone... alone, with God!”

    The cinematography of the scene suddenly changes, marking Joan’s words as a turning point in the scene.  Although the shots that follow remain closeups, the camera now begins to move.  The film crosscuts between pans of the court members who stare at Joan with bulging eyes, and pans of torture equipment.  In low-key lighting, we see shadowy silhouettes of chains, hooks, spikes, and saws.  The montage of closeups on the torture equipment leaves us guessing as to how the equipment actually works, but it is the idea of torture that is being presented moreso than any specific torture devices.  

    One torture device, however, is presented in a long shot and therefore we are able to see how it operates.  It consists of a wheel with sharp nails protruding from it.  At this point, the volume of the soundtrack has fallen to a mere whisper, but the music slowly builds in volume as Joan approaches the torture equipment, with a closeup on her shackled feet reminding us of her helplessness.  A man begins to spin the wheel, and closeups on the moving nails are juxtaposed with closeups on Joan’s face - which is now filled with more terror than ever before - and closeups of the court members, whose facial expressions radiant anger.

    This is undoubtably the most powerful section of the entire scene.  At first, the wheel spins slowly, the takes are longer, and the music is quiet.  Yet as the man begins to spin the wheel faster and faster, the takes become shorter and shorter, the cuts occur more often, and the music crescendos in volume and intensity.  Even the acting becomes more intensified as the court leader’s expression shifts from looks of disgust to shouts of pure hatred, and Joan begins to literally tremble in fear.  Before long, each shot lasts no more than a second or two.  The shots are constantly flashing between the spinning nails - which are now only a blur - and Joan’s body, convulsing in fear.  The scene has reached a climax.  Finally she collapses to the ground, unconscious.  At that precise moment, the music falls in volume to near-silence, marking an end to the tension, and an end to the scene.  In the next scene, Joan is carried out of the torture chamber and it is discovered that she has a high fever.  She is then tied down and blood is drained from her arm.

    In conclusion, the torture chamber scene in The Passion of Joan of Arc is a masterpiece of cinema that utilizes the aforementioned aspects of mise-en-scene, editing, acting, and musical scoring to evoke a sense of fear that drives the scripted plot.  The director took charge of this film, not only directing the cast and crew, but directing the audience as well.  Much of the film’s power is derived from the extensive use of closeups to direct the audience’s attention.  If the film had been shot primarily with long shots, the audience could choose to either focus on the characters or look at the setting.  But by positioning the camera close to the faces of the characters, the audience sees little of the setting, and is forced to watch the expressions of the characters whose faces fill almost the entire screen.  By employing closeups, the director forces the audience to look closely at specific faces (Joan of Arc, the court leader, etc.) and specific objects (the confession letter, the torture equipment, etc.) which fill the whole screen, so the audience cannot escape from them.

    Editing, acting, and musical scoring also play important functions in this scene by setting both visual and auditory rhythms that gradually speed up until the scene reaches a climax.  The result is a continual rise in tension that is further intensified by the exponentially expressive performances of the actors and actresses - especially lead actress Renee Maria Falconetti.  The most amazing thing about this scene is the fact that no torture takes place, and yet, in my own personal experience of seeing this film in a theater, I felt a very real rising tension, a sickening feeling in my stomach that grew stronger and stronger as Joan faced the torture equipment.  By the time Joan passed out, I too felt slightly faint.  The scene is difficult to watch because it utilizes the full capabilities of cinema to convey the full range of extreme emotions expressed so beautifully through Renee Maria Falconetti’s acting - a roller coaster ride of fear, weariness, ecstasy, defiance, and pure terror.

    This scene reminds me of Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight.  The plot of The Dark Knight is completely unrelated, but the amazing thing about the Joker is that he was able to terrify audiences even without any violence taking place.  While most horror films are bloodbaths of violence, the Joker was able to terrify people without spilling a single drop of a blood.  When I saw The Dark Knight in theaters, I literally cringed in fear when the Joker put a knife to Rachel’s lips and exclaimed, “Let’s put a smile on that face.”  He never actually cut her face, but it was the anticipation of the bloodshed that was terrifying - perhaps even more terrifying than the bloodshed itself.  When I saw The Dark Knight, this style of horror was completely new to me, and I assumed that it had never been done before.  Such an assumption was naïve, however, because The Passion of Joan of Arc achieved the very same effects eighty years before, in an era before color and sound.  This film didn’t need color or sound to achieve the desired effects.  In fact, the silence and the lack of color only contribute to the overall creepiness of the film’s style, for which it is now famous.  The lesson we can learn from The Passion of Joan of Arc is that large-budget, state-of-the-art technology is not necessary for producing a powerful film.  A film’s power comes from it’s most basic elements - story-crafting, mise-en-scene, editing, acting, and scoring.  Anyone with a camera can reproduce powerful film effects as long as he or she has an eye for how film techniques can coherently and expressively convey a storyline.