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CHŁOPI / THE PEASANTS 2023 | dir. DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman — from the creators of Loving Vincent (2017)

Jagna's crown in The Peasants (2023)

To begin with, I really liked this film in many, many aspects, so this is by no means hate on it.

Buuut if there's one tiny thing that they could've done better... is to double down on the folk stuff. What I mainly mean is Jagna's crown. It's like a nod towards tradition but... Her dress is very city-like imo, white, embroidered with what seems sparkly (meaning expensive) threads. Meanwhile, the crown is small and made of lace, peacock feathers, blueberries??, plants I don't recognise. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty and huge respect to the maker. In the og book, regarding the crown, we read: "Her hair, braided over her forehead, bore above it a rich pile of gold spangles, and peacock’s eyes, and sprigs of rosemary. Therefrom, down to her nape and shoulders, fell long ribbons of every hue;" (translation by Michael Dziewicki). It was also described as tall but I guess it was lost in translation.

Well, just compare this:

to these:

These are from Łowicz which is kinda in the region where Lipce is.

Anyway, this film is not super historically accurate (there's no way they would let Jagna have her hair down, not braided at all) but they did try. Overall, it's a nice introduction to the culture and an invitation to explore more on your own.

More on flower crowns in this brilliant article with more gorgeous examples by lamus dworski.

babie lato (1875), józef chełmoński // chłopi (2023), dir. dk welchman & hugh welchman

I've just finished the book (skipped the movie after seeing the trailer cause i had to see what a 19th century polish man who came up with a wattpad-worthy love story had to say and holy shit), it's magical. all my special interests in one place