Jeanne d'Arc

In the history of films, there's a lot of debate about which film was the first full-length movie. During the 1890s and into the 1900s, films were generally one to three minutes in length. Sometime in the early 20th century, the first full-length movie was made...but which one was the first? And, most importantly, what constitutes full-length? I've seen some say that Georges Méliès' "The Trip to the Moon" was the first while others say "The Great Train Robbery". Well, the answer's not that easy. Both these films were less than 20 minutes in length (which is still pretty short) and Georges Méliès' "Joan of Arc" was eat least as long as his "The Trip to the Moon" which he made two years LATER. As for me, I have no idea...but I do know that soon after these three films, Italian filmmakers were making films of over an hour in length.

This story of the life of Joan of Arc is missing a few portions but as is, it clocks in at about 10-11 minutes. I say 'about' because film length is hard to determine for silents as the cranking speed of the cameraman determined how long the film lasted...there was no standard like today's 24 frames per second. But what remains is very nice--with lots of sets, lots of great costumes and many sequences which are hand-colored. It really is an amazing film for 1900...far ahead of its time....and telling a complex story, unlike 99% of the other films from 1900. Sure, it's all a bit stagy and sets are much like those you'd see in a play...but still, for 1900 it was something! In fact, when you see it today, it still impresses.