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Download, Watch online The Mill and the Cross Movie.
| Genres: | DramaHist |
| Starring: | Rutger Hauer, Michael York, Charlotte Rampling, Oskar Huliczka, Joanna Litwin |
| Director(s): | Lech Majewski |
| Country: | Poland, Sweden |
| Year: | 2011 |
| IMDB Rating: | 7 |
Behind every great painting lies an even greater story
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The Mill and the Cross (DivX) | Resolution: 624x352 px | Total Size: 699 Mb |
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Movie Photos: We have taken some photos of "The Mill and the Cross". They represent actual movie quality.
Visitor Reviews: (12)
lixy 17 May 2012
Gorgeous but flat and clunky
This gorgeous reconstruction of Bruegel's painting is ultimately moreimpressive than inspiring. There is no character, no narrative, noemotion in this piece and there's not that much analysis, either,despite the director's claims. I just saw it at the SF Film Fest, andthe likable and knowledgeable director gave a lengthy lecture a) on howlong it took to find the fabric for the costumes and b) on the loss ofour ability to read pictorial symbols. Sadly, the latter was notrelated to (or within) the film directly--that would have beeninteresting indeed!--and neither is the impressive (expensive)production design enough to make this work compelling.If you are interested in symbology and art history, see PeterGreenaway's, far superior Nightwatching, a film with a plot and livelycharacters as well as a fascinating view into the meanings (and the USEof meanings and symbols) of another famous Dutch painting, which,despite also suffering from some bombastic elements, still manages toengage the viewer in its own right as a movie.Also Derek Jarman's Caravaggio comes to mind as a film that usestableaux to evoke the painter of the title. Despite--or perhaps dueto--being somewhat opaque and strange, the Greenaway and Jarman films(and almost any of their work) are far more interesting than The Milland the Cross, because they use the medium of film to SHOW and notTELL. This literal and slavish reproduction of the painting wasimpressive in its verisimilitude but ultimately pointless andsuperficial.
Vitarai 17 May 2012
A Living Painting
I just saw this film as part of the 54th San Francisco InternationalFilm Festival in a screening at SFMOMA. What a work of art! A clearlabor of love, this layered re-telling of the significance of, andmeaning in Pieter Bruegel's masterpiece, "The Way to Calvary" is one ofthe finest embodiments of a canvas brought to life I have ever seen.Rutger Hauer is Pieter Bruegel, Sir Michael York is his patron, and themesmerizingly beautiful Charlotte Rampling is the Virgin Mary. Theunnamed figures in the painting (well over 100) are brought to life,and what a life it must have been in the 16th Century. Simple and withclear order, yet brutal and harsh. Not only is "The Mill and the Cross"a re-creation of the painting it is 16th Century Flanders (as Bruegelsaw it). The film also acts as a Passion Play, and given I saw itEaster Weekend it couldn't have seemed more appropriate.
chaz-28 12 May 2012
A film inside of a painting; Up close and personal with 16th century Flanders
The Mill and the Cross is a movie inside of a painting, specificallyThe Way to Calvary (1564) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Pieter Bruegel(Rutger Hauer) is the main character in the film which takes turnsfollowing him as he decides how his painting will take shape and whowill be in it and also follows the local peasants who go about theirdaily business in middle of 16th century Flanders. The background isalways the actual painting's background with the mill high up on a rocklooking down on a large field where most of the action occurs.Bruegel's patron is Nicolaes Jonghelinck (Michael York), a successfulFlemish banker who spends his time learning from Bruegel about thepeople in the painting and what each section represents and alsopontificates to nobody in particular about the current state of affairsin Flanders. In 1564, Spain ruled what is now Antwerp and Flanders. TheSpanish militia seen in the painting in their red tunics seemed to bepreoccupied with chasing down and torturing Protestant heretics. Thereare gruesome scenes in the film with a man tied to a wagon wheelhoisted up in the air with no defense at all while the birds have athim. A woman's fate is no better as she is shoved alive into an opengrave while the red tunics fill the dirt in on top of her.The Way to Calvary itself does not show these particular atrocities.Instead, it has Jesus in the center hoisting his own cross towards hiscrucifixion. The exact moment the painting captures is Simon helpinghim with the cross because Jesus stumbled and fell down. Everyone'seyes are on Simon at this time instead of Jesus. In the foreground isMary (Charlotte Rampling). She is helpless as she sits on the sidelinesbecause there is nothing she can do to prevent the red tunics fromcarrying out their mission. The rest of the painting shows hundreds ofpeasants either watching the proceeding or going about their chores.Children play games on the hillside, a local peddler sells his bread, ahorn player dances around, and above them all, the miller observes fromhis windmill.The Mill and the Cross is at its best when Bruegel is explaining hisinspiration and how he plans to incorporate all of his ideas and scenesinto one large landscape. He looks closely at a spider's web todiscover where the anchor point on his painting will be and how tosection off the rest of the action. Just as intriguing are the scenesof everyday life in 1564 Flanders. A young couple gets out of bed andtakes their cow to the field for the day. Bruegel's wife and childrenwake up after him and get ready for breakfast which is a small slice ofbread. The miller and his apprentice ready the mill for the day's tasksand the large wheels and gears moan into action.Rutger Hauer is excellent as Pieter Bruegel and he appears to beserving his artistic penance to atone for his ridiculous participationin Hobo with a Shotgun earlier this year. Michael York is taking abreak from his voice over work and TV appearances to finally show up ina serious film again. Charlotte Rampling is sort of the odd man outhere. Her screen time is sparse as Mary and she spends most of the timemisty eyed observing all of the peasant movements around her.The Mill and the Cross is a Polish production directed by Lech Majewskiwho also aided in adapting the screenplay from a book of the same nameby Michael Francis Gibson. The film was an official selection at thisyear's Sundance Film Festival and will most likely earn an Oscar nodfor Best Costume Design. The costumes are remarkable and frequentlytake center stage over the performers.The Mill and the Cross is a bit reminiscent of The Girl with a PearlEarring but instead of showing how the painting is made from theoutside, this time, the filmmakers actually take you inside of thepainting itself and walks on the same landscape as its subjects. Thereis little dialogue in the film which is not a problem because it is soabsorbing to just sit back and watch the peasants wander around thearea and Bruegel figure out how to tie everything together. I will notgive it away, but the final shot of the film is as wonderful as therest as the camera backs up and reveals something to the audience.If you are a movie patron with patience and an interest in art history,The Mill and the Cross is for you. If you get bored in movies withoutguns, flash bangs, and screaming, stay away.
Otavio Augusto 12 May 2012
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/
Vincentiu 07 May 2012
Wing of a butterfly
A painter. In a Spanish Empire region. Birth of a masterpiece. Lights,shadows, eve and evening of a world. Gorgeous cast. Minimalistinterpretation. A masterpiece. In many measure but more exactly, just ameditation. About time, cruelty, sense of life, sacrifices, blindness,miller and crosses, ages, love and punishment, innocence, fight andpresence of Christ in every crumb of day. Not the beautiful images, notthe precise acting are key. Not the mothers or sketches, music ormarches of conquerors are secret, But only silence. The silence asspine of words. The silence of Saint Mary, Mother of God , wife ofBruegel, mirror of time waves before crucifixion. Behind pulling onwheel. Behind dance as blood of land. Behind each face and eachgesture. The movie is not history of a painting. It is a poem aboutbasic feelings and never end fight. Or, maybe, just a delicate wing ofa butterfly or injured bird.
Red-125 06 May 2012
Excellent, unusual film
The Mill and the Cross (2011) The Polish film "The Mill and the Cross" was co-written and directed byLech Majewski It stars Rutger Hauer as Pieter Bruegel, and co-starsCharlotte Rampling and Michael York.The film consists of an attempt to bring to life Bruegel's 1564painting, "The Procession to Calvary." I have seen this painting in theKunsthistoriche Museum in Vienna. Once you've seen it, you don't forgetit, because it is filled with people and action. (Although, in thepainting, Jesus has just collapsed under the weight of the cross, so,in a sense, action has been frozen for a few seconds.)The painting is also remarkable for a very strange symbol--a windmillplaced high atop a stony crag. In the film, Bruegel explains that themiller looks down from his mill and sees everything that is happeningbelow, just as God looks down from heaven and can see everything. So,the mill and the miller work symbolically. However, in a practicalsense, the mill would never be that high on an large, steep, stonycrag. If a mill were really in that location, no one could bring thewheat to the mill or take away the flour. The other dominant vertical structure is a cartwheel, raised high on along pole. This was the device used by the Spanish rulers of theNetherlands to execute and display prisoners. The prisoner was tied tothe wheel, and the wheel was hoisted far up in the air. The deviceprevented anyone from helping the person--if alive--or removing thebody. Only the carrion birds could reach the body, which they did, withpredictable results.Technology in the 21st Century makes everything possible, so it's nosurprise that the painting is reproduced in the film in a reallandscape. Sometimes all the figures are frozen, but other times youcan see a cow moving or some other action taking place. The specialeffects are routine by now, but the manner in which they are used isnot routine.We really have the sense that we are looking at a landscape, and theartist is putting it down on canvas before our eyes. This is a highlycreative way to look at life the way an artist sees it, and then lookat the way life is transformed and committed to canvas.We saw this film on the large screen at the excellent Rochester PolishFilm Festival. It really will work better in a theater. However, ifthat's not an option, it's worth seeing on DVD.
Deidra 06 May 2012
Painterly and absorbing
I found this film to inspire the same contemplative mood and heightenedawareness of similar films that build power without reliance on lots ofdialogue, music or usual cinematic cues. If you appreciated "Into GreatSilence" or "Vision" or "The Tree of Life" or even "2001" you willappreciate the poetic quality of this film. It is important for us toslow down occasionally and allow some films to affect us without thenecessity of being slammed over the head with noise and speed andhighly charged emotions. After all, for a film placed in its time, thatis a more realistic portrayal of life during those centuries. This filmilluminates the artistic process and aims of the artist. We arefortunate that the makers of this film dared to create this uniquejourney into a canvas of one of the world's great artists.
thomasjwilliams 05 May 2012
A Painting Come to Life
The Mill and the Cross is a painting (so not a lot of plot!) come tolife and it is unlike any movie I have ever seen before (and I haveseen a few)! Directed by Polish filmmaker, Lech Majewski, it is arecreation and interpretation of the famous 1564 painting by PieterBruegel, "The Way to Calvary".Glacially-paced and nearly-silent (at first) ... one film critic(Stephen Cole of "Globe and Mail") said that this film's detractorswill likely lament that watching this "is like watching a painting dry"(a point I can understand some having). If it doesn't grab one'sinterest early-on -- the film's opening is the painting coming to lifeand than slowly drying back onto the canvas -- there is no point inwatching it.Another film about the inspiration of a painting (that I loved) -- TheGirl with the Pearl Earring -- told a possible story of how a Vermeermasterpiece came into being AND each scene was as lovely as a paintedpicture. Here each scene looks like a painting as well; but this storyisn't necessarily one about a "what-if" (although as a film ittechnically is). Instead, The Mill and the Cross pretends to show usTHIS painting (not the inspiration behind it) as it is being painted.The painting is of the re-imagined crucifixion of Christ in 16thCentury Flanders while the region is under BRUTAL Spanish occupation.As Bruegel (Rutger Hauer - Batman Begins, Hobo with a Shotgun, BladeRunner) draws and explains his painting, the scene comes to life sothat the audience sees what Bruegel "sees". The premise and style arehighly unusual but I appreciated the delicate take (layer-upon-layer ofcomputer imaging) of telling this story.The Mill and the Cross isn't content with looking at a piece of art --this film is about experiencing it which is rather marvelous as theFlanders countryside comes to life (and it is as if the audience hasstumbled upon the same setting/scene as Bruegel). We get bits andpieces of story but no major plot other than the painting and itsscenes/images coming to life.This wasn't a favorite of mine by any means; but I do like theoriginality of it and anybody with a serious interest in art might wantto check it out.
sergei prikhodko 25 April 2012
pretentious and tasteless
This is simply a fake.Nothing close to Bruegel whatsoever. Bruegel's colors are transparentand clear, lighting is soft. He applied thin layers of paint to achievethis effect. In the movie, on the contrary, colors are running rampantin the most tasteless computer generated sort of way.Bruegel's palette is certainly not bright. Maybe the director hadFlemish 15th century art with its bright colors in mind? But no, hedidn't. Flemish masters used glazing to let the light travel throughmultiple layers of paint to achieve marvellous illusions of tangibilityand depth. In the movie though, the colors seem to be borrowed from acandy store. Bold and artificial. Everything in this film is digitallyenhanced but acting. Acting is a pure zero while the visuals are a zerodigitally enhanced.The lighting indoors reminds of Caravaggio at best, but it's way toocrude. The first scene with the lovers is lit with Caravaggio in mindbut the director decided to throw in a bit of Flemish Art. Hence abrightly lit window. Unfortunately, the result is a caravagesquepainting torn and another one, Flemish, visible through a hole.So, what's this film about? Spanish oppression. Well, with no plot, noacting, no drama it's a worthless comment. About the recreation ofBruegel's famous painting? No way. The painting is shown in the movieand it's obvious that it has nothing to do with it artistically. Well,even though out of place, could it be on Barogue art? The lightingindoors is certainly meant to be Baroque. That can be true but than thedirector has not succeed. If you are interested in Baroque, there arequite a few infinitely better films. Even an entertaining andunpretentious "Alatriste" succeeded in recreating Velasquez way betterthan "The Miller and the Cross" in recreating anything.This film is nothing but European artsy pop junk. Will there be an endto artsy directors fooling the public? I gave the movie two stars because at least some viewers might getinterested in Pieter Brugel's art after seeing a "Road to Calvary"painting.
shunder 25 April 2012
A lusciously disconcerting work
It can be said that Lech Majewski's 2011 film depicts "art imitatinglife, imitating art, imitating life, which also typifies the layer uponlayer of meaning and implication to be found in the film. PieterBruegel the Elder's 1564 painting "The Way to Calvary" creates thestory line for this completely unconventional portrayal of life in the1600's and Bruegel's technique or the process he may of worked throughwhile creating the painting. Bruegal's painting is much more than aback drop and can almost be seen as a central character, perhaps even abrilliant supporting actor.As the film weaves in and out of scenes found in the painting, thecharacters are brought to life portraying their personal reality behindthe snippet of time in which they are actually portrayed. In a furtherlayer in the film consider the juxtaposition of good and evil, peasantsinnocently awaking to begin a day's work, the musicians playing anddancing with merry abandon, contrasted with the whipping and murder ofthe young husband by the Spaniards. As Bruegel considers thecrucifixion scene he actually begins to interact with the painting. Hesignals to the miller (a euphemism for God) to stop; and as the millerbrings the mill (and seemingly life itself) to a standstill the momentis so unsettling as the windmill, looking mysteriously like the crossChrist has suffered on, turns counterclockwise.The final shot in this lusciously disconcerting film pans out from thepainting "The Way to Calvary" as it hangs in Kunsthistorisches Museumin Vienna, and leaves one to ponder the art each of us has seen, andthe snapshots in time that art depicts. Majewski's brilliant film givespause to consider the lives lived behind all the images of all the artover the ages, and so much more.
JvH48 23 April 2012
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.
junkielee 22 April 2012
The Mill and the Cross
Another Febiofest screening, Polish director Lech Majewski gave a briefintroduction of the film before the screening and stressed on howstrenuously the film had been produced, after a four-year span (mostlyfor post-production and animation) and ultimately mentioned that thepictorial sky in the film was specifically shot in New Zealand. (Thuswe 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 ofChristian religion, maybe I was the wrong audience there, besides aninitiative appreciation of all the tableaux's verisimilitude, the filmutterly eludes me. The re-enact of Jesus Christ's affliction is no more dauntless than MelGibson's THE PASSION OF THE Christ (2004), utilizing a medium of filmtechnology to reproduce a painting is not an enlightened idea, thoughfilm industry welcomes all clutches of experimentation, but does itworth all the investment to produce such a hollow replica apart from anovert religious purpose? Also the taciturn words also scotch the aidfrom a venerable cast, whose theatrical delivery is being mainlydelimited.From a technical angle, the gauche SFX is a far cry from top notch,some CGI blemishes could be well-conceived by any spectator, oneembarrassing moment arrives when all actors are frozen into astop-motion pause, all the horses could not stay put as their humancounterparts, their carefree optimism may betray that great paintingsare earnestly not in need of any reinterpretation and an overstatedlypedagogic preaching cannot service the aim of converting a person'sreligious belief, while the film clearly cannot differ idiosyncrasyfrom ridicule and its excess of self-esteem only stands for asuperfluous waste of energy, time and funds.