Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer by Paul Schrader
“Bresson, on the other hand, like a Byzantine artist, pushes his Joan relentlessly into stasis: disparity is never more than a stepping stone for Stasis for him. Whereas Dreyer sees Joan as the crucified, suffering lamb, Bresson views her as the resurrected, glorified icon. Bresson has cleansed Joan’s trail of all of Dreyer’s expressionistic excesses: gone are the grotesque faces, the receding arches, the sweeping low-angle tracking shots. Although Bresson uses the techniques of disparity, he does not let them become an end in themselves. In his only recored comment on Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc, Bresson said,”I understand that at the time this film was a small revolution, but now I only see all the actors’ horrible buffooneries and terror-stricken grimaces which make me want to flee.”
