Trivia / The Passion of Joan of Arc

• Banned in China: Briefly banned in the UK for its portrayal of crude English soldiers who mock Joan.
• Completely Different Title:
  • Croatia: The Suffering of Joan of Orleans
  • Czech Republic: The Suffering of the Virgin of Orleans
  • Denmark: Jeanne d'Arc's Suffering and Death
  • Hungary: Saint Johanna: Jeanne d'Arc
  • Japan: Judgement Jeanne
  • Sweden: A Woman's Martyrdom
• Dawson Casting: 36-year-old Maria Falconetti playing 19-year-old Joan.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Maria Falconetti's hair was cut on camera before Joan's execution. She had apparently agreed to do the film hoping she wouldn't have to cut her hair.
• Executive Meddling: Numerous cuts and edits were made due to pressure from government censors and the Archbishop of Paris. However, the version that is available today is the original cut.
• I Am Not Spock: Due to Maria Falconetti being more of a stage actress, and this being her only major film role, she has endured in the public consciousness as Joan of Arc.
• Missing Episode: Very narrowly averted. The original negative was destroyed in a fire in 1927, and Dreyer died in 1968 thinking it was lost forever. While several copies of the film did exist, these had been subjected to government or church censorship and heavily recut as a result. Fast forward to 1981, when a nearly pristine copy of Dreyer's own final cut was discovered in a closet in a Norwegian insane asylum of all places. What's more, it was delicate nitrate stock in a sealed can; if whoever discovered it had opened it up when they found it instead of calling in experts, it likely would have literally gone up in smoke then and there.
• One-Book Author: Amazingly, this was Falconetti's one and only feature film role. She had small roles in two short films and was otherwise a stage actress.
• Tom Hanks Syndrome: Maria Falconetti was cast after she was seen in comedies on the stage. This is considered one of the most powerful dramatic performances of all time.
• What Could Have Been: After his success with Master of the House, Carl Theodor Dreyer was offered the chance to make a film about Marie-Antoinette, Catherine de' Medici or Joan of Arc. Since Joan had been canonized as a saint in 1920, which was national news in France, she was chosen.

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