Saw The Mill and the Cross, a slow and almost wordless sort of film based on the Bruegel painting The Way to Calvary which depicts the passion of Jesus. This film is slow and hypnotic, very Terrence Malick-ish. It's the sort of film which either mesmerizes or puts to sleep. Alas, I got the latter.
It's really too bad because I know very little about art history and the film slowly unpacks much of the symbolism of the painting. There's also long-shots of people walking about, communicating wordlessly with their postures and small gestures, shots which are meant to portray humankind as sort of animal, and beautifully instinctive. These are themes I enjoy and which I like seeing in films, but my gosh it's all so slow! The shots are beautiful, the film dense and complex. The pacing is leaden, and I didn't really enjoy it much, but this is transparently my fault. A good, dense, difficult, arty film which one should only embark upon with a good dose of caffeine.
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