There's as much going on with the performers' faces in The Passion of Joan of Arc as with the whole human body in other films. With the refusal to match eyelines and the spatial incoherence of every scene in which she's interrogated, it doesn't seem like the people in this film really see each other. But with the range of emotions that can cross her face in a moment--fear, bitterness, confidence, comfort in God's presence--we see her sensitivity to everything that's happening, plus a great deal more that she brought with her into the courtroom. Her face is often depicted against a blank background as the film cuts between her face and other faces, or objects around her. There aren't always eyeline matches, and when there are, the shot following at her face is usually at a bizarre canted angle. It is usually very difficult to piece together the proscenium from a series of shots in this film. The physical reality of what is happening, however, is palpa...
"We are in the world, not against it." - Ursula K. Le Guin