With the phrase “every frame is a painting” in regards to cinema - the team behind Loving Vincent have yet again taken to that line quite literally with their sophomore follow up The Peasants. Though as not pertaining to the style of one artist as Loving Vincent did with every shot styled like a Van Gogh painting, The Peasants presents every shot as if they were just an oil painting from a Polish artist in the late 1800s. Directors DK and Hugh Welchman definitely have a certain vision when it comes to their visuals, the thematic weight in The Peasants really isn't quite there as it was with Loving Vincent, and as it's presentation bordered on gimmicky and the story turned quite rote and forgettable. 

 

The film is set in the turn of the 20th century in Poland as we follow a young peasant, Jagna Paczesiówna after she is married to a wealthy landowner - however, her connections within her polish town grows deeper and darker. Structurally taking place over four seasons, we see Jagna face patriarchal extremes and how Jagna faces the consequences of the actions of these men in this certain time period. Though harrowing and disturbing at times, Jagna's journey feels near pointlessly cruel to Jagna - and the repetitive nature of the film, never really brings light to anything that is thought provoking or engaging. 

 

Perhaps it's the characters which don't feel well developed, or the film's own obsession with its visual presentation. The oil painting presentation does feel justified as it calls back to paintings of Polish artists from that time, but outside of art history allusions, I found the visuals quite dull and didn't exactly seem to function all that well with the journey of our main character. There's too much distance emotionally with each character and I wasn't really ever drawn in emotionally. 

 

Though the directing duo do have a fond and confident grip with their visual style, it's substance is hit and miss here. Creating aloofness from the characters that make it hard to really feel anything, while also treating out main character in a pointlessly cruel plot while never giving her the depth that she deserves. I haven't read the novel on which this was based on, but it rung like a shallow exercise in combining art history, literature and cinema into what should be a powerful story. Though, it's prowess feels somewhat lost.