The Mill and the Cross

long time after the final credits, its flavor remains. like a shadow. because it is more than an aesthetic delight. or stage for cast, costumes, recreation of a painting, descend in the essence of a century. it is invitation to reflection. about life, characters, art and sacrifice, about history and about forms of freedom. about the birth of beauty as build of a wall. about the silence . and about a meet. across the scenes, I am the impression to look out the large window. because the realism of the each detail, the metamorphose of painting, the force of colors are more than small parts from a huge portrait. a poem in images. this could be a good definition. and fascinating birth of a world. who becomes yours.

To understand my review, I should say where I'm coming from. I'm not especially interested in, or moved by, art. I AM, however, interested in history. I found this movie utterly fascinating as a depiction of history, specifically of history as it was commonly lived. (As opposed to, for example, "Caravaggio", or "The Agony and the Ecstasy", both of which I found too obsessed with "story" at the expense of showing me something I didn't know about history.) The movie IS boring, as some people have complained, in the sense that nothing much happens, and indeed long stretches of time go by without a word being uttered. I did not try to watch it in one go but rather spread out over four nights, and I think this pacing worked very well for my purposes, allowing me to sink into the world for 25 minutes or so, then leave when I was saturated. It is an added bonus that the movie is so beautiful, so crisp, so sharp in its colors, so mannered in the composition of almost every scene. Another reviewer complained that this crispness and vibrancy is not really true to the Bruegel. Maybe so. I've not seen the original, and the pictures I have seen certainly have more muted colors and less well defined edges. But, as I said, I don't care about the art as much as the history; and the history seems, IMHO, done very well. Towards the end Bruegel makes a rather heavy handed and utterly obvious reference to Auden's "Musée des Beaux Arts" and the point that ordinary life goes on regardless of whether great events are happening somewhere. And that is, mostly, the ethos of the movie --- the portrayal of the ordinary events of life of the time, whether kids playing or barnyard animals being tended, against the backdrop of the specifically out of the ordinary of that time and place, namely the search for and treatment of heretics. The only criticism I have is that (as opposed to the Auden reference which is, actually, rather delightful) there's rather too much "woe is humanity, why must be this way?" spoken voice-over throughout. Mary says pretty much nothing but these vapid, irritating, and completely content-free clichés, and maybe half of what Nicolaes Jonghelinck says is along the same lines. The movie would have been a whole lot stronger if it had simply shut up during those scenes and allowed the visuals to speak for themselves. The one recommendation I would make is to try to see this at the highest resolution possible, at least Blu-Ray. The texture in almost every frame is so rich that you'd be missing out if you were to view it at DVD resolution, let alone at VHS quality. Finally some other reviewers have complained that the scenes where everyone freezes are poorly executed, that one sees the animals moving, along with the occasional person in the background, and wind motion. This criticism, IMHO, misses the point. Obviously if the director wanted a Ken Burns effect, he could easily have obtained it: just take a photo and pan over it. The point of the minor movements in an otherwise still frame, IMHO, is to act as metaphor for the artist's mental composition. The bulk of the characters have been established, and they stand still, while the artist's mind toys with minor modifications of a few characters, which we see as those characters moving more or less substantially.

I really like when the come out with a film like this. I like costume dramas, but this one is so interesting because it was made based on a painting and it works with a very interesting subject of Protestantism in Flanders and tryouts of Spanish militia to eradicate it. Not a lot of the films was made about the subject, and it clearly shows desperation of the Spanish militia to eradicate, at that time, very strong Protestant movement in Flanders. How state of the affairs came to that? I would track it down to Pope Alexander VI Borgia and total corruption of the Curria of the late 1490s. It was inevitable that someone like Martin Luther to show up, and it was a downhill for the northern Europe from that time onwards as far as Roman Catholicism. Beside that, cinematography is great and costimography as well. True holiday for the eyes. I enjoyed every moment of it.

An art movie about the 16th century's arts. It was based on the book of the same name which details the landscaper Pieter Bruegel's painting 'The Procession to Calvary'. A movie specially made for classical painting lovers. The movie had very less talkings and everything should be learnt by watching the pictures which depicts painting like series of frames. So there's nothing much to talk about the movie. One of the best ever production designs. Frankly, I was less enjoyed due to lack of knowledge about Bruegel, but glad I saw it and come to know few things about 1500s culture through his paintings. After all, I was not stranger to 'The Procession to Calvary' only by a few weeks before watching this movie. Recently I saw a movie called 'Museum Hours' and it helped a bit to understand this movie. In that movie a guide, an expert briefs in a scene about this painting and the reason behind it. It was a very unique movie, which still won't exactly portray as it had happened. A glimpse about the idea of it might have been like that. More like an imaginary world created behind the magnificent art work. Not suitable for all, especially those who watch movies for entertainment should stay away from it.

First, the film is based both on an excellent script and the work of a superb artist, Flemish master Pieter Bruegel. Next, the fact that the screenwriters and the director had the insight to make this film gives us hope that civilization has evolved. The original analysis of Bruegel's work by Michael Francis Gibson, who wrote the book on which the script was based, inspired Majewski to create the film--a feat, nothing less. One art form--painting--comes alive in another art form, film. Brilliantly conceived and executed. It is ultimately of little consequence that the film was not a 'box- office success' of epic proportions. Whoever wants to understand both art and the forces that shape civilization-- please see this film.

The Mill and the Cross certainly is a visual spectacle. With its very elaborate scenery and the painstaking efforts that went into the recreation of the painting, it's a technical masterpiece. Sadly, that's all that can be said in favor of the film. The storyline, if there really is any, jumps around from scene to scene in a seemingly random manner. None of the characters really interact and the acting is more like posing for a painting than acting. That might have been the goal, but it doesn't work here. In a sense, it's really not a movie but it rather has the style of a dramatized documentary. But it isn't a documentary either. At no time was any care given to real historical realism. In the film a reference is made to the city of Antwerp, but the city you can visit today (and please do, I'll give you a tour) looks more historically representative of the era than the film. I read and heard that enormous care was given to elements like the choice of the right kind of materials for the clothing. That may be true. But it brings nothing to the film as an experience, nor is it informative in any way. I read reviews where the reality with which the way of life in 16th century Flanders was depicted is greatly applauded. They are misguided. None of the building style, interiors, music or daily customs depicted are found anywhere in 16th century Flanders. They look like 13th century Poland. Because a lot of it was shot there. The landscape may resemble that of the painting, but clashes with reality. You might argue that it was the film maker's intent to closely resemble this highly symbolic painting. And I would agree. But he does this with great superficiality. It would have been much more interesting to show and contrast 16th century reality with the symbolism in the painting. But the director seems unable or unwilling to make the distinction. And thus we are left with a succession of 'tableaux' that visually resemble what's on the painting, with no reference to reality, then or now. You might argue that the director put in a lot of symbolism, some of his own. But the way the director tries to cram every pixel (the film was recorded digitally) with symbolism seems random too: a bit like a poet who believes his job is done when his sentences rhyme in a pleasing way, never mind the content. Sometimes he even attempts to be critical or sarcastic. Watching the scenes near the end where people are dancing and singing is downright painful. But there is no message in this. No-one cares? Life goes on? Life is hard and then you die? One person might call it an ode to the resilience of the ordinary people, but it might also be a protest against the callousness of the masses. The film takes no position. The director seems to know exactly what certain markets expect in terms of 'historical Europe' but seems to have no interest in the history and culture itself. If you are interested in a better film where symbolism, tempo, acting and story have a meaning, then I refer you to a real masterpiece about art, oppression and persecution: Andrei Rublev by the Russian master Andrei Tarkovski.

Set in Flanders during the 16th century, It is inspired by Peter Bruegel the Elder's 1564 painting The Procession to Calvary. The drama depicts Breugel's creative process conceiving and rendering the painting while life goes on around him: the gentle humour in the pastoral activities of the peasants including Breugel's own family, along with the arbitrary and horrible crucifixion of alleged Protestants by the red-tuniced Spanish Inquisition militia sent from the Vatican. If you're looking for an interesting narrative, action, character development, witty dialogue, or any dialogue at all, you're out of luck. The film is in English, but the amount of melodramatic mutterings from the only 3 English speakers would barely fill a page (all of the rest of the actors are Polish). This film dies on a small screen. If on the other hand, you're able to watch it on the largest possible screen in HD, you're in for a rare treat. The narrative is not what it's about, it's almost entirely about the remarkable imagery. Bruegel was inspired by the work of Hieronymus Bosch, both in his depiction of religious events and his style of rendering. Like Bosch, Bruegel depicted many scenes of human activity within one painting (art as a narrative medium for the illiterate). In The Procession to Calvary, Christ carrying the cross is depicted small in scale, at the centre of the composition, surrounded by many other apparently unrelated groupings. The whole scene is dominated by a mill in the background sitting precariously on an impossible rock perch. Bruegel seems to have been working in the period before the formal rules of perspective entered the visual language of painters. His figures do shrink in size from foreground to background, but the terrain they occupy appears parallel or flat to the picture plane. This quality seems to make it ideal for the director's whimsical depiction of the painting taking shape in the artist's mind: groupings of real figures, all apparently shot in isolation, animate the entire surface of the painting, waiting to be frozen in time by the Bruegel's brush. Seeing the painting briefly in this manner is one of the most charming moments of cinematic art in recent memory. The director doesn't stop there in his use of a Bruegelesque approach to a visual medium Bruegel could't have imagined. There are numerous scenes where the camera gazes steadily on elaborately staged action in the distant background while something else transpires in close up. Both parts are in sharp focus. Trying to achieve this in-camera would present the cinematographer with an impossible depth of field situation. I expect a lot of scenes were carefully staged in this way, to be digitally knitted together in post-production. In every scene the colours and textures are a visual feast and the lighting looks deceptively natural. The costumes are stunning and the production design like a painting by Bruegel. As for the dialogue: this film might have been better without any; maybe a bit of voice-over at best. Rutger Hauer's craggy features make him entertaining enough to watch as Bruegel. He needn't have opened his mouth. Michael York as Bruegel's patron Nicolaes Jonghelinck just looks old and Charlotte Rampling as Mary delivers her standard serenely sad gazes, but is otherwise forgettable.

The Mill and the Cross (2011) Maybe I anticipated this for too long, hearing about its production, and teaching in an Art History department myself. The result is both astonishing and boring as heck. I know, there is a kind of absorption that happens through silence and slow appreciation. And there is even the astonishment of looking without really thinking, or feeling, for the narrative or the characters. This is, for sure, a visually wonderful movie. The way it works out the scenery and milieu of a period based on a single painting is brilliant and ambitious. The mise-en-scene might in fact be the only and singular point of it all. So on that level, eleven stars. Terrific. Mind-blowing. But that exercise in naturalistic re-creation, in enlivening a masterpiece on canvas by Bruegel from 1564, is not, to me, enough. You will know after ten minutes whether to continue. I have heard of people being just spellbound by it all, so that hopefully would be your feeling. I tried to make the characters have meaning on some level, either in their interactions, or in their actions alone, or through what they did to the world around them. Much of what happens feels more medieval than Renaissance, to me, but I'm sure that was researched thoroughly. (Bruegel was painting at a time when the Renaissance from Italy had made its way thoroughly north to the lowland countries and beyond.) It is fun (and indicative of the seriousness here) that both Michael York and Charlotte Rampling took part, late in their careers. That was one of the draws, for sure. But don't expect revelations there, either. Expect in fact only what the director, Lech Majewski, intended—a film version of the painting, set in its larger context but always based on and drawing from this one admittedly fantastic painting. Which might be your starting point, before launching into this one and half hour homage.

In his brilliant short comment on Pieter Brueghel, the elder, Aldous Huxley states that Brueghel's vision on mankind is still highly topical. His paintings are allegories and show him as 'a man profoundly convinced of the reality of evil and of the horrors which this mortal life, not to mention eternity, hold in store for suffering humanity. The world is a horrible place; but in spite of this, or precisely because of this, men and women eat, drink and dance.' Pieter Brueghel's 'Way to Calvary' transcends its theme. It is a profoundly bitter condemnation of the occupation of Flanders by the Spanish Catholic king. The Flemings are crucified or broken on the wheel, while their possessions are confiscated and their families destroyed. Lech Majewski transformed masterfully Brueghel's masterpiece into an impressive movie. The reconstruction of the idyllic landscapes, of the colorful atmosphere of the 16th century cities, of the epochal clothing and of the cold-blooded reign and the executions by the Spanish mercenaries are simply phenomenal, helped most significantly by a brilliant cast and a fantastic color grading. Lech Majewski's impressive scenes, ranging from simple serene family joys to compulsive sadistic flogging, speak for themselves, while keen commentators, like Breughel himself, critic harshly the savagery of the representatives of the Catholic king. A must see.

Another Febiofest screening, Polish director Lech Majewski gave a brief introduction of the film before the screening and stressed on how strenuously the film had been produced, after a four-year span (mostly for post-production and animation) and ultimately mentioned that the pictorial sky in the film was specifically shot in New Zealand. (Thus we should sense some preciousness or reverence?) The film reconstructs Flemish maestro Pieter Bruegel's masterpiece "TTHE PROCESSION TO CALVARY" in a fictional plot of the tribulation of Christian religion, maybe I was the wrong audience there, besides an initiative appreciation of all the tableaux's verisimilitude, the film utterly eludes me. The re-enact of Jesus Christ's affliction is no more dauntless than Mel Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE Christ (2004), utilizing a medium of film technology to reproduce a painting is not an enlightened idea, though film industry welcomes all clutches of experimentation, but does it worth all the investment to produce such a hollow replica apart from an overt religious purpose? Also the taciturn words also scotch the aid from a venerable cast, whose theatrical delivery is being mainly delimited. From a technical angle, the gauche SFX is a far cry from top notch, some CGI blemishes could be well-conceived by any spectator, one embarrassing moment arrives when all actors are frozen into a stop-motion pause, all the horses could not stay put as their human counterparts, their carefree optimism may betray that great paintings are earnestly not in need of any reinterpretation and an overstatedly pedagogic preaching cannot service the aim of converting a person's religious belief, while the film clearly cannot differ idiosyncrasy from ridicule and its excess of self-esteem only stands for a superfluous waste of energy, time and funds.