ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - February 18': The Criterion has two versions of The Passion of Joan of Arc. The advent of sound cinema led to the standardization of film playback at 24 frames per second (fps), but silent films were played at various speeds, sometimes even differing from reel to reel within the same film. In this audio essay, recorded for the Criterion Collection in 2017, Danish film scholar Caspar Tybjerg explores the debate over the proper frame rate for The Passion of Joan of Arc. This release presents the film at two different speeds: 24 fps and 20 fps. It is advertised as a "New 2K digital restoration of the film by Gaumont, presented at 24 frames per second." As for comparing to the Masters of Cinema - the Criterion black levels are far deeper and richer as is evident by the screen grabs. It doesn't show rounded corners and is slightly cropped beside the MoC. Both Criterion's 20 + 24 fps versions have the same image quality in static captures. When shown in 1080P the 20fps version has combing and looks poorer in-motion. I prefer the Criterion look and this is augmented by the resounding Voices of Light audio. 

At the time of its initial release, the film was accompanied by various pieces of live music, but there is no existing evidence that director Carl Th. Dreyer ever selected a definitive score for his film. The first soundtrack option on both versions offers the film without sound; the second, on the 24-frames version, plays it accompanied by Voices of Light, the 1994 composition by Richard Einhorn, inspired by the film, via a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround at 24-bit - sounding incredibly impressive - and the third, presents it with a 2017 score by Will Gregory of the band Goldfrapp and Adrian Utley of the band Portishead. This is in linear PCM 2.0 channel stereo. My preference is strongly for the Einhorn score which was the first way I saw the film.

Also included is the version of The Passion of Joan of Arc that plays at 20 frames per second. It also has the first option as the film without sound; the second presents it with a piano score composed and performed by Mie Yanashita in 2005 via a linear PCM 2.0 channel track (24-bit).

There are optional English subtitles for the Intertitles - modern-looking French on the 24-frames and original Danish intertitles on the 20-frames per second version. Criterion's Blu-ray disc is Region 'A'-locked.  

Criterion include the informative 1999 audio commentary by film scholar Casper Tybjerg. There is also a new, 11-minute, interview with Einhorn where he discusses his extensive research into the life of Joan of Arc. Also included is a 1/4 hour new conversation between Adrian Utley, of the band Portishead, and Goldfrapp's Will Gregory who composed their score for The Passion of Joan of Arc in 2010. It was recorded in Utley's home in Bristol, England, in 2017. I was very appreciate of the new video 11-minute essay by Tybjerg exploring the debate over the film’s frame rates and a 9-minute, audio only, interview from 1995 with actor Renée Falconetti’s daughter and biographer, Hélène Falconetti. There is a production design archive and trailer and the package has an essay by critic Mark Le Fanu, a 1929 director’s statement by Carl Theodor Dreyer, and the full libretto for Voices of Light.

A fabulous Blu-ray release - one of my favorite of the past many years. Watching the film in 1080P with the Voices of Light score is... epic. A must own for... everyone. Our highest recommendation!

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ADDITION: Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - October 12': The Masters of Cinema package is... WOW. It constitutes an exclusive new MOC restoration supervised and produced by James White and it is immensely impressive. In this lone dual-layered Blu-ray we get the 20fps version (1:36:12) with the option of both Silent or 2005 piano score performed by Japanese Silent film composer Mie Yanashita, the 24fps playback (1:20:11) in Silent or with interesting accompaniment by revered American avant-garde musician Loren Connors  - starting after the prologue - or the complete 1950's "Lo Duca" version of the film disowned by Dreyer - generally considered a butchering of his artistic vision - yet, it remains a unique curiosity. All three are in 1080P and with the same bitrate. The captures below are from the 20 frames per second transfer - which seems to be the same image quality as the 24 frame rendering. The Lo Duca version is quite inferior. There is, predictable, contrast flickering but detail in close-ups is... miraculous. You can see tears glinting in the light, make-up, facial and nose hair - looking amazingly crisp. The screen captures below can speak for themselves and I'll only say this has drastically exceeded my expectations. Damage is cleared and grain textures are not readily present - and while more would have been appreciated - after reading the liner notes book I see it is no fault of the transfer. I was blown away by the HD presentation.

The scores are offered in a linear PCM at 1536 kbps. I get the feeling that, like Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light score - the Yanashita piano accompaniment will only grow in my appreciation. So will the cool, funkier Loren Connors composition. Both scores sound impressive in lossless and add more beauty to the incredible images.

There is a brief 'Restoration Demonstration' with a couple of split screens and the package contains a 100-page illustrated book containing (as described by MoC): writing on the film by Jean Drum & Dale D. Drum about the film, replete with extensive quotations from Dreyer, Falconetti, and more; a contemporary review of the film by H.D. (the poet Hilda Doolittle); a new English translation of the 1930 review of the film by Luis Buñuel; a short 1951 excerpt about the film from writing by André Bazin; a new translation of the 1953 essay about the film by Chris Marker; two short pieces about the film and cinema in general by Carl Theodor Dreyer from 1929 and 1950; a new essay by scholar Casper Tybjerg unpacking the version history of the film; a selection of the production’s set-design blueprints, photographs of physical set-models, and onset stills, all reprinted in high-resolution courtesy of the Danish Film Institute; a detailed technical note on the MoC restoration, versions presented, and frame-rates presented; and rare and archival imagery.

What more can we say - one of the most anticipated and wonderful Blu-rays of 2012 - to date. The Passion of Joan or Arc leaves everyone speechless - one of the true miracles of cinema and now looking better than ever in the new format. It's like a dream come true.   

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