February 22, 2024
FILM: THE PEASANTS
DIRECTED BY: DK WELCHMAN, HUGH WELCHMAN
STARRING: KAMILA URZEDOWSKA, ROBERT GULACZYK, MIROLSAW BAKA
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Filmmakers DK and Hugh Welchman received critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for their 2017 film Loving Vincent. That work showcased an animation style that featured oil painting to tell the story of a man who visits the hometown of Vincent van Gogh. Their new film, The Peasants, expands upon that visual approach to bring to life a Nobel Prize winning Polish novel that has been taught in the country’s schools for the past century. The film is a visual feast and an epic story filled with the romance and tragedy found in many classic works of literature. As such, it is a relatable and riveting work from start to finish.
The story centers on Jagna, a young woman in a 19th Century Polish village who is caught between love, town gossip, and money. She is viewed as an outsider serving only as a commodity for locals who want to expand their land. Jagna is forced into a marriage with a much older widower, Maciej Boryna. However it is his son Antek who becomes romantically smitten with the very beautiful Jagna, even though he is already married and a father. Of course, this seemingly doomed love leads to a series of conflicts and confrontations within the community as well as some major life implications for both characters.
Because the novel on which the film is based is a whopping 931 pages long, there is a lot to be explored here and the filmmakers recreate it rather engrossingly without missing necessary beats. The characters in particular are beautifully developed and quite complex. This isn’t a story based on a one-dimensional idea of what love is and who should be together rather it focuses on main characters that are flawed and well rounded. The film weaves their tale with a lot of grey areas. Should Jagna and Antek be together? Does Jagna deserve a better life? Is Boryna right with the actions he commits? It’s understandable why the story has been a part of the Polish educational system for as long as it has. The ideas are universal and ever-present in most societies.
The visual style is most interesting too. The filmmakers used a combination of some 80,000 frames of oil paintings and digital effects to create the look. Some 200 artists worked on the film, a number of them from Ukraine working just as Russia invaded their country. (As such, most of the Ukrainian animators were women as the men were off to war.) This isn’t the cleanly drawn or digitally created animation we might expect from Hollywood rather it is a much more painterly and artful recreation of the novel. As such, we can almost see many of the frames flash quickly before our eyes. This approach shouldn’t be distracting to most viewers though as the engrossing story and beauty of it all make for a deeply moving experience.
In a time when action, escapist, and adventure films dominate the animated market place, it is refreshing to see a traditional story brought to life which such successful results. This is a film more for adults than children though as the themes and images venture into some pretty mature areas.
The Peasants was Poland’s submission for the Oscars this year as well as on the shortlist of potential nominees for Best Animated Feature film. It opens this week in limited release.
FILM: THE PEASANTS
DIRECTED BY: DK WELCHMAN, HUGH WELCHMAN
STARRING: KAMILA URZEDOWSKA, ROBERT GULACZYK, MIROLSAW BAKA
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Filmmakers DK and Hugh Welchman received critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for their 2017 film Loving Vincent. That work showcased an animation style that featured oil painting to tell the story of a man who visits the hometown of Vincent van Gogh. Their new film, The Peasants, expands upon that visual approach to bring to life a Nobel Prize winning Polish novel that has been taught in the country’s schools for the past century. The film is a visual feast and an epic story filled with the romance and tragedy found in many classic works of literature. As such, it is a relatable and riveting work from start to finish.
The story centers on Jagna, a young woman in a 19th Century Polish village who is caught between love, town gossip, and money. She is viewed as an outsider serving only as a commodity for locals who want to expand their land. Jagna is forced into a marriage with a much older widower, Maciej Boryna. However it is his son Antek who becomes romantically smitten with the very beautiful Jagna, even though he is already married and a father. Of course, this seemingly doomed love leads to a series of conflicts and confrontations within the community as well as some major life implications for both characters.
Because the novel on which the film is based is a whopping 931 pages long, there is a lot to be explored here and the filmmakers recreate it rather engrossingly without missing necessary beats. The characters in particular are beautifully developed and quite complex. This isn’t a story based on a one-dimensional idea of what love is and who should be together rather it focuses on main characters that are flawed and well rounded. The film weaves their tale with a lot of grey areas. Should Jagna and Antek be together? Does Jagna deserve a better life? Is Boryna right with the actions he commits? It’s understandable why the story has been a part of the Polish educational system for as long as it has. The ideas are universal and ever-present in most societies.
The visual style is most interesting too. The filmmakers used a combination of some 80,000 frames of oil paintings and digital effects to create the look. Some 200 artists worked on the film, a number of them from Ukraine working just as Russia invaded their country. (As such, most of the Ukrainian animators were women as the men were off to war.) This isn’t the cleanly drawn or digitally created animation we might expect from Hollywood rather it is a much more painterly and artful recreation of the novel. As such, we can almost see many of the frames flash quickly before our eyes. This approach shouldn’t be distracting to most viewers though as the engrossing story and beauty of it all make for a deeply moving experience.
In a time when action, escapist, and adventure films dominate the animated market place, it is refreshing to see a traditional story brought to life which such successful results. This is a film more for adults than children though as the themes and images venture into some pretty mature areas.
The Peasants was Poland’s submission for the Oscars this year as well as on the shortlist of potential nominees for Best Animated Feature film. It opens this week in limited release.