The Mill and the Cross 2011

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: 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 more

Daniel M. Gold, New York Times: 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 more

Eric Hynes, Time Out: Majewski's film is a dazzling master class in visual composition. Read more

Alison Willmore, AV Club: While it's far from easy going, The Mill And The Cross is worth attempting for its stunning visuals alone. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "The Mill and the Cross" might not be perfect, but it's stimulating, hypnotic and, in its unique way, exciting. Read more

Neil Young, Hollywood Reporter: This attempt to explore and dramatize a masterpiece of 16th-century art falls flat. Read more

Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic: We almost feel that we ourselves have accomplished something just by being around while Bruegel doodled. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: Computer-generated imagery is often used to simulate the future in motion pictures, but the ravishing The Mill and the Cross uses it to replicate the past. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: No description can do justice to "The Mill and the Cross," which must be seen to be fully appreciated. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: As art history, the movie is splendid. As a film, it is didactic and photogenic - but not cinematic. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: If you see no more than the opening shots, you will never forget them. Read more

Leba Hertz, San Francisco Chronicle: Despite a too slow pace for my own tastes, Hauer helps move the film along by being captivating even in just a few scenes. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "The Mill and the Cross" is an art-history lesson and a spiritual exercise disguised as a movie. Read more

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: 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." Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: The Mill & the Cross invites us to inhabit a work of art along with the mind of the man who made it and to be enthralled by the images shared in vivid tableaux by visionary Polish director Lech Majewski. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: Neither conventional costume drama nor abstract objet d'art, this visually ravishing, surprisingly beguiling gamble won't fit any standard arthouse niche. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: An extraordinary example of both art-historical interpretation and CGI as passport to unknown lands, The Mill and the Cross... is a moving-image tribute to the still image, with its ability to "wrestle the senseless moment to the ground." Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: Majewski's film is a captivating exercise that will interest fans of art, not to mention arthouse cinema. Read more