The Mill and the Cross: Lech Majewski

Recently there have been several films that have captured the imagination of the public and the press for their technical innovations. James Cameron's Avatar (2009) and Martin Scorsese's Hugo (2011) were both lauded for their incredible use of pioneering special effects. And yet, I think that the most significant development in the field of special effects and visual imagery in the cinema belongs to Lech Majewski's The Mill and the Cross. I say this because with this film Majewski has done more to redefine what can be put on the screen than both Cameron and Scorsese combined. The film is an adaption of Michael Francis Gibson's book The Mill and the Cross which explores the lives of around a dozen of the occupants of Pieter Bruegel the Elder's 1564 painting The Procession to Calvary. The painting, which documents Christ's procession to Golgotha, juxtaposes Christ's suffering with 16th century religious persecution in Flanders. In the course of the film, Majewski literally makes the painting come to life with actors reenacting it with the aid of green-screens and other computer imagery. People are projected in the background and are shrunk to properly depict pre-Renaissance perspectives. Environments and sets are engulfed with artificial lighting and shadows. And yet, for all of its visual deception, Majewski never loses sight of the people in his film. The central performances by Rutger Hauer and Michael York legitimize The Mill and the Cross as a genuine cinematic experience instead of just a fancy tech demo. Even though very few people saw this film, I have a feeling that its ramifications and influence will be felt in the decades to come.

9/10