Renée Jeanne Falconetti

Renée Jeanne Falconetti^[1] (July 21, 1892 – December 12, 1946), sometimes credited as Maria Falconetti,^[2] Marie Falconetti,^[3] Renée Maria Falconetti,^[4][5] or, simply, Falconetti, was a French stage and film actress, notable for her role as Joan of Arc in Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1928 silent film, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc.

Born in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis, Falconetti became a stage actress in Paris in 1918. By the time Dreyer watched her act in an amateur theater and selected her as his leading lady in his up-and-coming production La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc, she was already a celebrated stage artiste, and had appeared in one film, La Comtesse de Somerive (1917), directed by Georges Denola and Jean Kemm. Her portrayal of Joan of Arc in La Passion is widely considered one of the most astonishing performances ever committed to film, and it would remain her final cinematic role. According to film critic Roger Ebert, Dreyer's method of directing his actors pushed Falconetti to emotional collapse:

For Falconetti, the performance was an ordeal. Legends from the set tell of Dreyer forcing her to kneel painfully on stone and then wipe all expression from her face--so that the viewer would read suppressed or inner pain. He filmed the same shots again and again, hoping that in the editing room he could find exactly the right nuance in her facial expression.^[6]

After filming La Passion, Falconetti continued with her career as a producer of light stage comedies, appearing with the Comédie-Française. During the Second World War, she escaped from France first to Switzerland, and then left for Buenos Aires, Argentina where she lived until her death in 1946.^[7] Her remains are interred at Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.

"Renee Falconetti" is the fourth poem in Patti Smith's book kodak.

References

1. ^ Boroson, Warren (April 11, 2006). [1] Daily Record. claims: "Her name was Renee Jeanne Falconetti. Her daughter, Helene Falconetti, in a letter to me now in the New York Public Library Theatre Division, states that she does not know where the wrong name 'Maria' originated."
2. ^ Maria Falconetti at the Internet Movie Database
3. ^ Luft, Herbert G. Carl Dreyer: A Master of His Craft. Quarterly of Film Radio and Television, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Winter, 1956), pp. 181-196
4. ^ Ebert, Roger (February 16, 1997). The Passion of Joan of Arc (review). Chicago Sun-Times
5. ^ Mayumi Takada, Annihilating Possibilities: Witnessing and Testimony through Cinematic Love in Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's DICTEE LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory Volume 17, Number 1 / January–March 2006, 23 - 48
6. ^ Roger Ebert (February 16, 1997). "The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)". rogerebert.com. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19970216/REVIEWS08/401010350/1023. Retrieved September 9, 2010. 
7. ^ Falconetti, Hélène (1987). Falconetti. Les Éditions du CERF. ISBN 2204028452

External links

• Maria Falconetti at the Internet Movie Database
• Renée Jeanne (Marie) Falconetti (1892–1946), actress [collection, 1962] via The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Billy Rose Theatre Collection

Persondata
Name	Falconetti, Maria
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 21, 1892
Place of birth	Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis
Date of death	December 12, 1946
Place of death