The Mill and the Cross
Koch Lorber Films | Release Date: September 14, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
80
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisOct 20, 2011
The Mill and the Cross captures the wish that some of us have had while standing in front of a great painting. What hangs before us is so striking, beautiful, strange, vast, horrifying, ethereal, lifelike - so alive - that we're desperate to enter the other side of the canvas, to be inside the painting. Read full review
100
Boxoffice MagazinePam GradySep 12, 2011
An investigation into Pieter Bruegel the Elder's painting "The Way to Calvary," Majewski's film is a stunning piece of art in its own right. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderAndrea GronvallOct 20, 2011
It's an edifying art history lesson, but it lacks the showmanship of, for example, Peter Greenaway's "Nightwatching." Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertOct 19, 2011
Here is a film of great beauty and attention, and watching it is a form of meditation. Sometimes films take a great stride outside the narrow space of narrative tradition and present us with things to think about. Here mostly what I thought was, why must man sometimes be so cruel? Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. MusettoSep 14, 2011
No description can do justice to The Mill and the Cross, which must be seen to be fully appreciated. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn LevyNov 3, 2011
It's easy to imagine that some folks will find the film rapturous, but it's equally clear that there are others whom it will drive crazy. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleLeba HertzSep 29, 2011
Despite a too slow pace for my own tastes, Hauer helps move the film along by being captivating even in just a few scenes. He, Michael York as a businessman and Charlotte Rampling as the Virgin Mary provide what little dialogue exists in a screenplay that could have used a little more backstory. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineLauren WissotSep 11, 2011
Every bit as visceral an experience as Cave of Forgotten Dreams, and with a lead actor whose face radiates the same eternal quality as that of the late Klaus Kinski, The Mill and The Cross also feels a lot like live theater. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsOct 14, 2011
An art-history lesson and a spiritual exercise disguised as a movie. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubAlison WillmoreSep 14, 2011
While it's far from easy going, The Mill And The Cross is worth attempting for its stunning visuals alone. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen ColeNov 10, 2011
The Mill and the Cross may thrill you. But be prepared for a fight. Twenty minutes in, your companion may throw up his or her arms and complain, "This is like watching a painting dry." They wouldn't be wrong. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterNeil YoungSep 12, 2011
If ever a film cried out for the 3D treatment, it's The Mill & the Cross, an ambitious but frustratingly flat attempt to explore, analyze and dramatize a masterpiece of 16th-century art. Read full review
80
The New York TimesDaniel M. GoldSep 13, 2011
In this lush and hypnotic examination of a painter's work and the times in which he lived, Mr. Majewski presents an extended contemplation of the creative process itself. Read full review
80
Time OutEric HynesSep 13, 2011
Majewski's film is a dazzling master class in visual composition. Read full review
80
VarietyDennis HarveySep 12, 2011
Neither conventional costume drama nor abstract objet d'art, this visually ravishing, surprisingly beguiling gamble won't fit any standard arthouse niche. Still it could prove the Polish helmer's belated international breakthrough. Read full review
90
Village VoiceNick PinkertonSep 13, 2011
An extraordinary example of both art-historical interpretation and CGI as passport to unknown lands, The Mill and the Cross, based on a book by Michael Francis Gibson, is a moving-image tribute to the still image, with its ability to "wrestle the senseless moment to the ground." Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryOct 20, 2011
Majewski's film is a captivating exercise that will interest fans of art, not to mention arthouse cinema. But the movie's lasting impression is about more than novelty. It's a portrait of suffering and subjugation that urges viewers to stop what they're doing and take notice of the world around them. Read full review
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