Keswick Film Club - The Peasants

Synopsis

Taking a Polish classic novel as a basis, the makers of 'Loving Vincent' have produced a "ravishingly beautiful visual triumph". The story is of Jamila, a striking blonde beauty who is admired by every male in the village, including both the rich Maciej and his eldest son Antek, who Jamila loves. When Maciej arranges a marriage for himself with Jamila, the affair with his son continues, with disastrous results.

BUT the reason to see this film is much more to do with its construction. "It's the sheer luminosity of the images on display that keeps you thoroughly enthralled. The filmmakers' technique involves shooting the entire film in live-action form, with real actors and sometimes real sets, and then painting tens of thousands of frames in rotoscoping fashion to produce the feeling of oil paintings come to dynamic life. The result is near hallucinatory in its effect, as if walking through an art museum filled with masterpieces that have lives of their own" - Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter.