Written By: Veronica Borowski
“The Peasants” also known as Chłopi in the original Polish language, is a 2023 film based on the polish novel by the same title (Chłopi) written by Władysław Reymont. The movie consists of at least 40,000 handmade oil paintings, and they accomplished that by filming it in live-action first and then having more than 100 painting animators who painted over the scenes to create the final version that we see.
The film focuses on a Polish girl Jagna, in a late 19th century Polish village. Where drama, tradition, and patriarchy all come together to create the story we see unfold. Jagna is swept into a loveless marriage by her parents to a wealthy village farmer widower(Maciej), who happens to also be the father of the man she has fallen in love with(Antek). Antek being married isn’t exactly helping her situation and throughout the movie you see the tension and truth of their affair slowly unravel. You see how the village slowly learns the truth of their actions and how they change their treatment of mostly Jagna, and how the rumors and gossip strain Maciej and Jagna’s already harrowing relationship. With the violence and misogyny of the men in the film showing just how little their own and other women mean to them, it reveals just how different the expectations, reality and expectations are for women and men.
Of course there are very big themes of family and faith involved throughout the film and as the movie progresses other factors like the political climate and feuds contribute to the movie’s tragic ending. Although I won’t spoil what exactly happens, the ending of the movie shows how cruel humanity is and how unfair the patriarchy is especially towards women. I know that because it is an international film it is harder to come by and that there is currently no streaming service offering it, so I highly recommend watching it if you have a chance and are able to see the movie that you do.