The Mill and the Cross

That books, comics, plays or video games are made into films is truly not a rarity. But a filmed painting has already absolute rarity work. Filmmaker and artist Lech Majewski has taken on this difficult task and, based on an interpretation of the work by Michael Francis Gibson, has brought to life the painting The Carrying of Christ by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

The work, created in 1564, transposes the Passion story of Jerusalem against the backdrop of a 16th-century Flemish town. Using nearly 500 characters, Bruegel captures the lives of ordinary people in his homeland, while also commenting on the Spanish occupation and the Inquisition that ravaged his Flemish homeland. In The Mill and the Cross, Majewski focuses on about a dozen of the people depicted in the painting, which include the Virgin Mary (Charlotte Rampling) in addition to the painter (Rutger Hauer) himself and his patron (Michael York).

With a mix of cutting-edge CGI technology, 3D effects, and the blending of photographed and painted (by Majewski himself) backgrounds, Bruegel's painting really comes to life in the film. The imagery is fascinating, seeming on the one hand amazingly real and yet suitably artificial. The lives of the simple peasants are recreated down to the smallest detail, immersing the viewer in a bygone world.

As fascinating as this ambitious project may be, the film then probably presents itself as unwieldy for most viewers who have only a limited interest in (art) history. Because it takes almost 38 minutes until the first words are spoken. And even after that the dialogues are limited to a few sentences. Rather, the film lives solely from its images, which Majewski then freezes for a short time in a particularly impressive scene. But it requires a fair amount of interest and patience to be overwhelmed solely by the fascinating beauty of the film's images. Because without a clear narrative in the classical sense, this image interpretation of a special kind is undoubtedly a film experience of a special kind, but also a work in which only a small niche audience will really enjoy.

Therefore, it is quite clear: especially art lovers should not miss The Mill and the Cross. But those who need more for a successful evening at the movies than fascinating imagery and ambitious and artful filmmaking will probably cut their teeth on this one.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp