The epic piece of cinema that is Carl Theodor Dreyer’s ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’ is attributed as one of the most influential and famous silent films ever. Not only is it a story of infamous truth, it was a truly experimental and astounding film of its time. The use of close-ups primarily creates a disorientating and intense portrayal of the trial, as Mark Cousins references in his book ‘The Story of Film’ that the “intimacy of cinema was born” through close ups. And through these close ups that are skewed and cut off at points, we see the broken person that is Joan. We see her skewed because she is completely vulnerable and human in this film, which just makes her strength in faith seem even more admirable and beautiful and heart-breaking to watch. In this way, it is obvious as to why this film is such an iconic piece of art. Never had there been such a display of intimacy to a main character to this degree before this film, and because of this it’s become known as one of the most intense films for “affective framing,” as Gilles Deleuze says in his book ‘Cinema 1’. Affective cinema is that of focusing on emotion rather than action or establishing shots to tell a story. In this way, it can be said that ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’ is one of the greatest displays of close-ups dominating the screen, in order to show the emotions of the main character, played intensely by Maria Falconetti. It is safe to say that this film is something that will never be created again… and the fact that this extraordinary film was made in 1928, with half the technology we have today, is mind-blowing.