This film will be of limited interest, but if you are open to the spiritual aspects of silence or mindfulness, this movie may be worth your attention. It is a jewel!
Into the Great Silence is a documentary about the day to day life of a small group of Carthusian monks living under vows of silence in a monastary in Grenoble, France.
The photography is at times Vermeerian in its beauty.
The focus is on the tasks of the monks and the camera is as mindful as the monks are in their duties. Therefore, the film is intentionally very slow moving. And it is long – two and a half hours.
Of the three friends that I went with, one of them gave up and left. Around the theater there were perhaps fifteen or twenty people mostly sitting alone. They were very attentive and quiet.
I found that after the first hour, I began to submerge myself into the film. I don’t know how else to explain it. I felt the quiet internally.
This is a movie that I want to have on DVD just so that I can reexperience “the great silence” again. My companions liked the experience and the film, but are not interested in owning it or seeing it again.
It was an extraordingary experience and a stunning work of art!
Zoe, you might also be interested in An Infinity of Little Hours which looks at five young men who enter a Carthusian Charterhouse.
I read it recently, and although I thought it was lacking in analysis, it did provide a glimpse into the way Carthusians live, and why men might choose to enter this rather marginal order.
I just read a review of this movie yesterday, and it’s showing (maybe) in one art-film theatre in Nasahville. I may go see it if it’s still showing this weekend. Is it available on DVD? My spiritual director should see it, and he doesn’t get out to movies.
Yet another film that came and went that I wanted to see but just couldn’t find the time/energy. It’s returning to the Bay Area for a quick run in early July, but I’ll be out of town. I never rent anything on DVD, and this one in particular sounded like a Must theatrical experience. Oh well.
Several years ago, the Sisters of the Poor Claires moved their monastary (yes, nuns live in a monastary, too - I asked about the difference but don’t recall the answer) from Newport News to New Kent, VA. The area around their former facility had grown and was really an intrusion into their way of life (vows of silence, no outside contact, lives devoted to prayer).
In order to get approvals for the new construction, the Mother Superior came to my office and had to fill out paper work, applications, etc. She also LOVED to talk - it was almost as if she felt like she had to fill up the spaces in our conversation since she got the opportunity to speak so seldomly. Wonderful woman - she was delightful (but gabby). When I asked about their activities during the day (out of curiousity- it didn’t have anything to do with their building plans), she said “We pray for the world because the world won’t pray for itself.”
It’s returning to the Bay Area for a quick run in early July, but I’ll be out of town. I never rent anything on DVD, and this one in particular sounded like a Must theatrical experience. Oh well.