Pieter Bruegel painted 'The Way to Calvary' in 1564. Through the magic and mastery of technology and a kindred artist's eye in director Lech Majewski, the development and structure of the original painting is recreated. Bruegel gives explanation for the construction of the painting while he and other characters inhabit the landscape that becomes the finished work of art. Each frame is a masterly piece of art in itself. Though location is Flanders and not Jerusalem, and though the crucifiers are Spanish militia instead of Roman soldiers, the intrusion of powerful and unsympathetic religion upon an otherwise idyllic culture is brutally evident. Besides the death of a peasant, we watch the minutia of life within this landscape, feeling as though we were really a part of it, a member of the community. We become familiar with their labors, their play, their music, their grief. In sum, the audience is transported into this simple community. To balance the simplicity of these rural folk, Rutger Hauer and Michael York discuss more philosophical and artistic issues while watching life pass below their ethereal crag. The physical beauty of this film is alone inspiring and should not be missed.
The Mill and the Cross
Director: Lech Majewski
Writer: Lech Majewski, Michael Francis Gibson
Cast: Rutger Hauer, Michael York, Charlotte Rampling, Oskar Huliczka
Time: 92 min.
Opening September 30 at the Embarcadero Cinema in San Francisco
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