Visitors Review

Otavio Augusto (2012-05-25 21:39)

Lech Majewski found out the essence of arts!

Lech Majewski shows himself like a superb person. He makes a greatdirecting in the movie 'The Mill and The Cross'. He shows that knowsall about history, coming back to 16th century, and remembering us witha special form: from the vision of the painter Pieter Bruegel. Histhinks, his questions and his eyes in the community that he is going tomake a painting about.The plot is more superb than the directing, so the screenplay is moreimportant than the directing, but the two are just the same. The storygoes on Belgium, where a clear society was rising. The people thereworks, plays and eats for surviving. So, the impiety comes. One cavalrysend from the king of Spanish kingdom comes to the community to sin,without knows, without piety, just for show us, audience, how cruelthey are.Jesus doesn't explain to us that we have to kill the people who doesn'tbelieve in god. But for the king of Spain, he did, or better, he thinksthat this is justice. No, man. This is impiety, and if we works likethat, the world is gonna to explode. Each one believe in what he wants.If we don't respect, we're showing prejudice, and it goes the same foreverybody. Because if we don't do this, the prejudice (plague from thedevil) will destroys us, and was this what happen to the SpanishKingdom, the movie doesn't show, because it is more specific, buteverybody who like history knows.The scenario and art directing are spectacular. Just nostalgic to us,shows a different age in such a simple way. Just "BRAVO" to Majewski!My reviews in Portuguese can be read in the site:http://cult-cine.blogspot.com/

JvH48 (2012-05-25 13:49)

Must-see guided tour through Bruegel's picture

Many thanks to the Rotterdam filmfestival 2011 for screening thisguided tour through Christ Carrying the Cross, the painting by PieterBruegel the Elder. I learned a lot about the ideas behind it and theway it was set up. Seeing it explained gradually throughout the story,will let me remember it better than reading about it in a book.We also learned a lot about how people lived those days. A specialmention should be devoted to the parts where this film demonstratesthat life goes on, regardless of politics, war, and religions. We alsosaw many forgotten customs about bread, threshold cleaning, and muchmore that I want to leave as an exercise to the close observer.A dramatic moment at ¾ of the film is where the painter raises hishand, and life comes to a stand still, including the mill on the hillthat stops by a hand signal of the miller. It seems no coincidence thatthe miller very much resembles how our Lord is pictured usually, andalso that he oversees the whole panorama from his high position. Assoon as he signals the mill to resume working, the whole picturerelives from its frozen state.A large part of the audience stayed for the final Q&A. We got muchinformation about the post production effort required to get the colorsright, and creating the different layers to get everything in focus.Further, the film maker told he wanted to make a feature film from thestart. It was considered a Mission Impossible by the people around him.How wrong they were!All in all, a lot goes on in the film, much more than I could overseeduring the screening. Maybe I should try to grasp more of the finedetails during a second viewing. I don't think I saw everything thatthe film makers did put into this production.