The Peasants
Animation film from the makers of Loving Vincent about a free-spirited girl forced to marry an elderly peasant in nineteenth-century Poland. Based on Nobel laureate Wladyslaw Reymont’s novel series.
Told through seasons that honour the cyclical rituals of ploughing, plantation, and harvest, THE PEASANTS recounts the tale of a charming and voluptuous woman named Jagna hungering for love and lacking in cunning. Her home of Lipce, a God-fearing village, is full of characters, including a lecherous mayor and a snooty church organist. Jagna is the target of gossip and harassment by the villagers, who see her beauty as a threat, She creates havoc by marrying a wealthy widower named Maciej, whose children and their families – including the apple of her eye, his muscular son, Antek – work the land and expect inheritance. Jagna’s fate is all but sealed when she breaks one of the few societal taboos and puts herself on a tragic collision course with the community around her.
After LOVING VINCENT, DK and Hugh Welchman once again used the rotoscoping technique in which the original live-action shots were painted over frame by frame. Some 100 artists collectively produced more than 40,000 oil paintings, ensuring that Polish culture and art are literally brought to life.