...of intention

117.
On the UCLA campus at Royce Hall, the printed announcement says that the silent film is to be accompanied on the Wurlitzer by the same man who Vikar heard play years before at the silent-movie theatre on Fairfax. Before the screening begins, someone announces to the crowd that the accompanist will not be playing after all, adding that in fact the film's director always had intended the film to be shown and watched in silence. "This is the first movie I ever saw in Los Angeles," Vikar tells Zazi. Composed entirely in close-ups, the inquisition and execution of Joan as played by Maria Falconetti is all the more unbearable for the quiet; the audience can barely bring itself to applaud afterwards.

[Zeroville, Erickson, S.]