The Mill and the Cross (2011, Lech Majewski)
The Mill and the Cross is literally a living breathing work of art. Lech Majewski’s camera dives into Pieter Bruegel’s 1564 painting The Procession to Calvary and expands on some of the painting’s tiny details. The film also depicts Bruegel (Rutger Hauer) and some of his inspirations in crafting such a complex work. It is easy to miss some of the details by quickly scanning the painting but Majewski’s technique of mixing live action and special effects ensures that the viewer is able to properly appreciate the beauty and sometimes brutality depicted in "The Procession to Calvary". The film’s initial moments shows a blown up version of the painting which brings the figures to life while the finale shows a static painting hung on a museum wall. As the camera moves away, the painting diminishes in size in a similar manner to how the planet diminishes at the end of Andrey Tarkovskiy’s Solaris.
Even though the painting starts to disappear from view, Majewski’s film ensures that the painting and ordeal of its subjects will remain long in memory.
In Darkness (2011, Agnieszka Holland)
In Agnieszka Holland’s In Darkness the camera dives underground to depict the true life story of how a few Polish Jews avoided being captured by the Nazis. Some of the Jews manage to hide in the sewers where they encounter Leopold Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz), a man who knows the sewer system better than anyone else. Initially, Socha agrees to help the Jews in exchange for money but eventually helps them out of humanity. Holland's film, aided by Jolanta Dylewska’s remarkable cinematography, highlights some of the challenges the survivors faced living in tight and dark quarters.
