I dream someday that an Indian animation studio has the freedom to make a movie that is so visually striking like this one. So much of the mainstream animation is outsourced to India, which means we have the talent to make great and groundbreaking visual treats. Till then, let’s take a look at The Peasants, a 19th Century classic adapted by Dorota Kobiela Welchman and Hugh Welchman.
Having never read the novel, and looking at it purely from a moviegoer’s perspective – the screenplay did not catch my attention. Jagna, a free-willed beautiful young woman played by the stunning Kamila Urzedowska, is chased by every man in the village and is eventually forced to marry the richest farmer Maciej played by Miroslaw Baka , who’s son she is shown to be attracted to throughout.
The son played by Robert Gulaczyk (who played Vincent Van Gogh in the directors’ experimental but breathtaking Loving Vincent) is sort of a positive for Jagna at first, but when the story unfolds, he too becomes a character you cannot root for, for Jagna. You feel for the character’s yearning for freedom deeply and how patriarchy, societal jealousy, sexual exploitation and pressure makes her eventually meet her fate.
All seasons are divided into chapters. A farmer/man’s relation to nature is explored in each chapter. The transition from a scene to next season is seamless and you can imagine how important cinematography played a part in the whole process.
The Peasants was shot in live-action before being turned into painted animation by a group of more than 100 painters. I was deeply attracted to the visuals and constantly amazed by the effort carried out by the painters from four studios in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Serbia for 200,000 hours in total. The paintings were based on the shots, which became frames in the film. Animators then worked to supplement the paintings to make the whole film seamless. Even the 2022 Russian invasion did not stop animators and painters from Ukraine from completing this movie (read about this on the internet).
Special mention needs to be made for the background score that was composed by Łukasz “L.U.C.” Rostkowski and the Rebel Babel Ensemble. I listen to “Jagna”, “End of Summer”, “Wole Wolta” and “Devil Dance,” everyday.
I have always wanted to have a scoring system for movies. But some just deserve to be bought and kept as art with you. The Peasants is one of them.
(This article has been written by AnimationXpress consultant Taher Siamwala)