The Mill and the Cross

  • 91'
  • Poland
  • 2011
Polish director and multimedia artist Lech Majewski (Angelus, The Garden of Earthly Delights) and American scriptwriter/art connoisseur Michael Gibson were inspired by Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder's painting Christ Carrying the Cross. As well as a mill and a cross, more than 500 people feature on this canvas from 1564: from Jesus, Mary and John the Baptist to several groups. Majewski and Gibson take 12 characters from the painting and combine their stories with the creation of the canvas. The Passion of Christ is interwoven with the oppression of the Flemish by the Spaniards in a refined film that meanders between the absurd and the metaphysical, the blasphemous and the aesthetic. Majewski painted the sets and uses the latest digital techniques to transfer the actors to the world of Bruegel. Rutger Hauer plays a wonderful Bruegel, Charlotte Rampling is Mary and Michael York plays art collector Nicholas Jonghelinck.
  • 91'
  • Poland
  • 2011
Director
Lech Majewski
Premiere
European premiere
Countries of production
Poland, Sweden
Year
2011
Festival Edition
IFFR 2011
Length
91'
Medium
HDcam
Language
English
Producers
Lech Majewski, Freddy Olsson
Production Companies
Angelus Silesius, Bokomotiv - Freddy Olsson Filmproduktion
Sales
WIDE
Screenplay
Lech Majewski, Michael Francis Gibson
Cinematography
Adam Sikora
Editor
Norbert Rudzik, Eliot Ems
Production Design
Katarzyna Sobanska
Sound Design
Zbigniew Malecki
Music
Lech Majewski, Józef Skrzek
Cast
Charlotte Rampling, Dorota Lis, Rutger Hauer
Local Distributor
Contact Film
Website
http://www.themillandthecross.com
Director
Lech Majewski
Premiere
European premiere
Countries of production
Poland, Sweden
Year
2011
Festival Edition
IFFR 2011
Length
91'
Medium
HDcam
Language
English
Producers
Lech Majewski, Freddy Olsson
Production Companies
Angelus Silesius, Bokomotiv - Freddy Olsson Filmproduktion
Sales
WIDE
Screenplay
Lech Majewski, Michael Francis Gibson
Cinematography
Adam Sikora
Editor
Norbert Rudzik, Eliot Ems
Production Design
Katarzyna Sobanska
Sound Design
Zbigniew Malecki
Music
Lech Majewski, Józef Skrzek
Cast
Charlotte Rampling, Dorota Lis, Rutger Hauer
Local Distributor
Contact Film
Website
http://www.themillandthecross.com