Her journey from trembling girl-warrior to immortal saint takes place only in shuddering, screen-filling close-ups.

But that’s all it took: falconetti turns her every facial expression into a landscape of devastating human emotion.

“In falconetti, I found what I might allow myself to call ‘the martyr’s reincarnation’,” said director Carl theodor Dreyer.

Her performance is an astonishing one-of-a-kind: thrilling, sublime and almost unbearable.

Amazingly, falconetti had only appeared in one previous film. this would be her last.

Greatest Moment: Pick any... We’ll go for the death-sentence reaction shot.