MOVIE OF THE WEEK December 8, 2023: THE PEASANTS
Polish author Wladyslaw Reymont’s epic, Nobel Prize-winning novel gets an appropriately impressive adaptation in Dorota Kobiela (DK) and Hugh Welchman’s The Peasants. Lushly and gorgeously animated using the same painstaking rotoscope process the duo and their talented crew earned accolades for with 2017’s Loving Vincent, the lovingly crafted film follows the inhabitants of a Polish farming village over the course of a year at the turn of the 20th century.
At the center of the story is Jagna (Kamila Urzedowska), a joyful young woman whose kindness, free spirit, and easy way with men have led to rumors that she has loose morals. That doesn’t stop recent widower/prosperous farmer Maciej Boryna (Miroslaw Baka) from deciding to make her his next wife — even though she prefers the company of his married son, Antek (Robert Gulaczyk). But marriage doesn’t stop Jagna from following her heart, nor does it put an end to the gossip and judgment that confront her at every turn in a world that’s governed by strict patriarchal structures.
Conflict, recrimination, sorrow, forgiveness, guilt, perseverance — the full range of human emotions and entanglements is woven into the fabric of The Peasants, as are traditional Polish ceremonies and celebrations. And it would all be compelling regardless of the movie’s style and format, but the Welchmans’ hand-painted animation technique (which supposedly took more than 100 artists over 200,000 hours to produce) turns it into something exceptional.
Watching The Peasants is like seeing an Impressionist painting come to life. Colors swirl as trees, flowers, stars, animals, and people move through the movie’s world. Rich details pop out — a thick rope of red beads, a long braid of honey-colored hair, a stark winter landscape. But this is no animated Disney fairy tale; rather, The Peasants is more like something out of the Brothers Grimm: a cautionary tale wrapped in darkly beautiful fancy. — Betsy Bozdech
Team #MOTW’s comments:
Loren King The Peasants is one of the most gorgeous and most devastating films I’ve seen this year. Directors D.K. Welchman and Hugh Welchman, whose Loving Vincent was a lush landmark in animation, this time deliver a no less thrilling and ambitious animated jewel. In adapting Wladislaw Reymont’s early 20th-century novel about life in a rural Polish village, the directors filmed the actors in live action and then created thousands of paintings on top of the photographic images. The result is a sumptuous, hyper realistic, earthy and brutal story about Jagna, a radiant, headstrong girl in a small Polish village. She is forced into marriage to an older widower, the rich landowner Boryna (Miroslaw Baka). But Jagna secretly continues to see Antek (Robert Gulaczyk), her husband’s tempestuous married son. The Peasants is a visual and aural feast of lusty dancing, wild music, vodka drinking and secret sensual encounters. It’s clear that we’re headed for disaster; even so, there’s little to prepare for the depressing denouement. The Peasants is a work of art on a par with David Lean. Besides the stunning animation, the film rivals any feature this year in its breathtaking cinematography, acting, and score.
Pam Grady: Over the course of a single year, the life of a young woman in 19th-century Poland transforms from that of a free spirit to a prisoner and victim of the era’s deep-seated patriarchy and misogyny in this vivid animated drama. In this photorealistic tale, Jagna is already the target of her village’s vicious gossips, thanks to her flirtation with married Antek. When the elderly widowed mayor Boryna – Antek’s father – decides to make Jagna his new bride, she has no say in the matter. She reacts badly; the townspeople’s reaction to her suddenly lofty status worsens as they grow increasingly hostile. Jagna is indiscreet and arrogant, as well as naïve enough to think forced marriage is as bad as things can get. Given the time and the place, the story is unsurprising. What makes it compelling is the woman at its center. Hers is a flawed personality, to be sure, yet she is wholly undeserving of the fate that awaits her at the hands not just of the rigid society she was born into but also of the small minds and the cruelty that surrounds her.
Leslie Combemale Leave it to the directing team of Loving Vincent to bring a thousand-page Polish classic to the screen. The Peasants doesn’t cover everything from Raymont’s eponymous novel, but rather focuses on one character, expanding on her experience with the prevailing patriarchy, religiosity, and closed-mindedness of her small village. They expand upon their Oscar-nominated work in their last film, by embracing the use of oil paintings in a more dynamic, fluid way, making for powerful visuals and more emotional connection to the subjects. Possibly too high-minded for some cartoon lovers, but a masterpiece just the same. Read full review.
Nell Minow: It’s like seeing old masters come to life — the depth and complexity of color, the exquisite glow of the light from the sun or the fire and sensitivity of line gives a timelessness to the story and perfectly matches the gorgeous score and outstanding performances.
Nikki Fowler: DK and Hugh Welchman’s The Peasants is a colorful and breathtaking extension of the famous novel of the same name with the technique of creating exquisite oil paintings that essentially become frames for the film made by hundreds of painters, mostly women, from studios in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Serbia. If that weren’t enough to honor this exquisite animation with a watch, then I don’t know what would be. Not to mention the fact that the Russian war on Ukraine disrupted the film’s production, and their ability to accomplish such a beautiful project is in itself remarkable. Spanning four seasons with a female-themed story that challenges patriarchy and leans towards claiming and owning one’s sexuality and freedom, sometimes at a cost, The Peasants delights and elicits emotion with a visually captivating spell and a fabulous score to match.
Jennifer Merin The Peasants is an exquisite animated film created by Polish filmmakers Dorota Kobiela (DK) and Hugh Welchman (known for the Oscar-nominated film Loving Vincent) and a coterie of highly skilled fine and graphic artists (75 percent of whom are women). Based on the beloved eponymous Polish novel by 1924 Nobel laureate Wladyslaw Reymont, the narrative is set in the late 19th century and centers on Jagna, a young woman who is determined to live her life fully her way, despite rules of social behavior set by the entrenched and oppressive patriarchy. The Peasants is a unique and gorgeous film that is a real gift to lovers of cinema.
Sandie Angulo Chen Based on Nobel Prize-winning Polish author Wladyslaw Reymont’s seminal book (1904-1909), The Peasants is as breathtakingly beautiful as directors DK and Hugh Welchman’s previous hand-painted adaptation, Loving Vincent. The movie, like the book, is broken down into the four seasons that explore the interconnectedness between country folks and their natural surroundings — or basically humanity and nature. The acting is brilliant and the story is a compelling and thought-provoking tribute that gives voice to the voiceless and examines complex themes about class, gender, nature, culture, and violence.
Sherin Nicole There is a duality between the craft and storytelling behind The Peasants that presents a paradox for me. Lauded for its animation, the film utilizes a technique that painstakingly paints over live-action footage with thousands of individual oil paintings. Amazingly, it’s all done by hand, and the technique has proven to enchant. The animation style was first used when the filmmakers Dorota Kobiela (DK) and Hugh Welchman created their Oscar-nominated film Loving Vincent. Lovong Vincent is a gorgeously realized gem, a lush and moving testament to the art of Vincent Van Gogh and the life that fueled him. Perhaps that is the cause of my disconnect. While the animation in The Peasants took the same herculean effort, the outcome feels like A.I. Without an iconic art style or the visual flourishes that capitalize on the form, the animation loses its human-infused artistry and falls into the uncanny valley. As a lover of animation, I found myself wanting to look away. The story presented a similar struggle. With great respect for the landmark novel the film is based on, written by the Polish Nobel laureate Wladyslaw Reymont (1924), the film is relentlessly brutal to its main character, Jagna, so much so that I longed for something that speaks less about the ways women had to endure throughout history and more to the ways we might have triumphed. And so, like an ex-lover, I must say to The Peasants: It’s not you, it’s me.
Liz Whittemore Based on the Nobel Prize-Winning Novel by Wladyslav Reymont, the historical adult animated tale The Peasants follows Jagna as she navigates the patriarchal social structures of the late 19th Century. It is a narrative dripping with vicious gossip, power grabs, jealousy, and deceit. If Midsommer and The Crucible collided, you might begin to grasp the vile chaos in The Peasants. Simultaneously sinister and sad, with a feminist flare, this unique film hypnotizes with its delicious visual style and enthralls with its complex storytelling. Presented in mesmerizing, ever-changing painted animation created over 200,000 hours, The Peasants is a living, breathing work of art.
Cate Marquis An eye-popping, gorgeous, animated feature from the team who made the Oscar-nominated Loving Vincent, Polish filmmakers Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman and a whole team of artists, The Peasants is a moving adaption of the Nobel Prize-winning 1924 Polish novel of the same name. Jagna (Kamila Urzedowska) is a young woman whose dreamy artistic nature, indifference to patriarchal norms in rural Poland, and just being born beautiful make her the object of gossip, lust, jealousy and more in her tiny village. Although set in the 19th century, the village seems stuck in an even earlier time, with an oppressive, almost medieval view of women and a strict patriarchy. Like “Loving Vincent,” the film combines the work of artists in transforming filmed images into paintings, creating beautiful impressionistic images that make the dramatic story spanning four seasons all the more compelling.
FILM DETAILS:
Title: The Peasants
Directors: Dorota Kobiela (DK) and Hugh Welchman
Release Date: December 8. 2023 (limited)
Running Time: 114 minutes
Language: Polish and Latin with English subtitles
Screenwriters: Dorota Kobiela (DK) and Hugh Welchman, based on the novel by Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont
Distribution Company: Sony Pictures Classics
AWFJ Movie of the Week Panel Members: Sandie Angulo Chen, Betsy Bozdech, Leslie Combemale, Nikki Fowler, Pam Grady, Loren King, Cate Marquis, Jennifer Merin, Nell Minow, Sherin Nicole, Liz Whittemore
Other Movies Opening This Week
Edited by Jennifer Merin
