Thursday, April 23, 2020

The Stories about Art Films: 3. The Mill and the Cross, ACJ Movie Academy


Basic Info

Title: The Mill and the Cross
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland, Sweden
Language: English, Spanish
Production company: Angelus Silesius, Telewizja Polska, Arkana Studio, Bokomotiv Filmproduktion
Running time: 96 minutes
Release date: 23 January 2011 (Sundance), 18 March 2011 (Poland)

Staff

Director: Lech Majewski
Producer: George Lekovic, Lech Majewski, Freddy Olsson, Dorota Roszkowska
Screenplay: Michael Francis Gibson, Lech Majewski
Music: Lech Majewski, Józef Skrzek
Cinematography: Lech Majewski, Adam Sikora
Editor: Eliot Ems, Norbert Rudzik

Cast

Rutger Hauer (Pieter Bruegel)
Michael York (Nicolaes Jonghelinck)
Charlotte Rampling (Mary)
Joanna Litwin (Marijken Bruegel; Pieter's wife)
Marian Makula (Miller)

Summary


The Mill and the Cross (Polish: Młyn i krzyż) is a drama film directed by Lech Majewski in 2011 and starring Rutger Hauer, Charlotte Rampling and Michael York. The film was inspired by "The Procession to Calvary" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1564 and is based on the book "The Mill and the Cross" written by Michael Francis Gibson. The film was co-produced by Poland and Sweden and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 23, 2011.

The Procession to Calvary, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1564)

The film focuses on a dozen of the 500 characters depicted in Bruegel's painting and consists of a series of vignettes that depict everyday life of farmers. In addition, monologues of some of the main characters, including Bruegel, explaining the structure and symbolism of his paintings, are interspersed throughout the film. The subject of Christ's suffering was set against religious persecution in Flanders in 1564.

Movie Review


“Neither conventional costume drama nor abstract objet d'art, this visually ravishing, surprisingly beguiling gamble won't fit any standard arthouse niche. Still it could prove the Polish helmer's belated international breakthrough”, Variety

“In this lush and hypnotic examination of a painter's work and the times in which he lived, Mr. Majewski presents an extended contemplation of the creative process itself”, The New York Times

“No description can do justice to The Mill and the Cross, which must be seen to be fully appreciated”, New York Post

“If ever a film cried out for the 3D treatment, it's The Mill & the Cross, an ambitious but frustratingly flat attempt to explore, analyze and dramatize a masterpiece of 16th-century art”, The Hollywood Reporter

“Despite a too slow pace for my own tastes, Hauer helps move the film along by being captivating even in just a few scenes”, San Francisco Chronicle

Thank you.







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