The Mill & the Cross Review
Nuart Theatre – Santa Monica, Ca

Lech Majewski’s The Mill & the Cross brings Pieter Bruegel’s masterpiece The Way To Calvary to the screen through the lens of the Flemish renaissance painter. The Way To Calvary depicts the story of Christ’s Passion but under the backdrop of the Spanish occupation in the year 1564, when Bruegel created this painting. Majewski’s (Basquiat, Angelus) penchant for the meticulous is evident in his execution of breathing life into the characters of Bruegel’s painting. The film focuses on several characters that possess very different roles (ie – a miller, a carter, a bard) and puts particular emphasis on the rudimentary tasks of rural-life in the 16th Century. All the subjects converge onto the scene where Bruegel makes the focal point of his tableau. The concept of the the Mill and the Cross was spawned out of Majewski’s admiration of Michael Francis’s depth and insight into this single piece in his book of the same name and deemed it worthy for further explanation. If a picture is worth a thousand words, Majewski’s near 100-minute feature extrapolates beyond the usual expression and dissects the motives behind the subjects and minute details of Bruegel’s painting. Not only does Majewski explicate recurrent symbolism in the film, he gives a philosophical voice to Bruegel who was amongst the wisest painters of his time.

Pieter Bruegel is played by Rutger Hauer, whom you might remember as the replicant (the bad guy) in Blade Runner. Amidst the turmoil inherent in the subjects of the painting, he plays a stoic observer who is god-like in the sense that he has very little choice in interfering in humanity’s blatant distress but lets free-will take its course. But there he is, sitting atop a hill chronicling the event on canvas with stark juxtapositions between life and death as well as justice and mercy.

Despite a modest budget, Majewski still manages to dole out a film that is visually-arresting with the majority bring composed of CG. It took three years alone to stitch together this digital tapestry. An immense amount of respect is to be given to Majewski for being able to inhabit a period with such artistic precision and other filmmakers should take a page should they attempt a period-piece beyond a superficial representation. All this makes for a very enjoyable entry into Lech Majewski’s tradition of chronicling painters and paintings.

***

For upcoming engagements, check out the Nuart Theatre.