Renée Jeanne Falconetti (July 21, 1892 â€" December 12, 1946),
sometimes credited as Maria Falconetti, Marie Falconetti, Renée Maria
Falconetti, 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 The Passion of Joan of 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 theatre and selected
her as his leading lady in his upcoming production La Passion de
Jeanne d'Arc, she already was a celebrated stage artiste, and had
appeared in one film, La Comtesse de Somerive (1917), directed by
Georges Denola and Jean Kemm. Falconetti was 35 years old when she
played the role of 19-year-old Joan of Arc in La Passion. Her
portrayal is widely considered one of the more astonishing
performances committed to film, and it remained her final cinematic
role.Many writers have claimed that Falconetti's performance was the
result of extreme cruelty at the hands of Dreyer, a notoriously
demanding director who pushed her to the brink of emotional collapse.
For example, film critic Roger Ebert writes:However, in their
biography of Dreyer, Jean and Dale Drum say that these stories are
based only on rumour and that "there is no evidence that Dreyer could
be called a sadist". They quote onlookers who described Dreyer's
working relationship with Falconetti: Initially in the production
process, "Dreyer and Falconetti would watch the rushes of a single
scene together, seven or eight times, until Dreyer could pick out a
little bit, maybe a few feet, where the effect was what they wanted,
and when they reshot the scene, she could play it without the least
inhibition. Just those few feet of film had inspired her." Later,
Falconetti became able to play scenes only from Dreyer's explanations,
without the need even for rehearsal. RenÃ(c)e Jeanne Falconetti Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter