I've just awakened from a beautiful dream. Before I slept I came from an Italian restaurant in which I was with my business manager and we talked about various subjects and we gossiped about our personal lives and feasted upon a sumptuous meal. Before we went to that Italian restaurant we were in Santa Monica's Nuart Theater and feasted upon a very poetic, mesmerizing, entrancing, seductive and breathtaking film.
INTO GREAT SILENCE is not for the popcorn flick fan. If you're into blockbusters and that's your taste then you probably won't like this film. You must be a staunch art house film-goer. You must be a sophisticated film watcher to truly appreciate this film. Your taste level for film must be at a higher level to enjoy this film with little ease. But if you're not any of those and you surrender to this film you will have no doubt a poetic, mesmerizing, hypnotic, sensual, introspective and breathtaking experience.
As the story goes, in the early 1980s Philip Groning contacted the Roman Catholic Monks of the Carthusian Order, which was founded in 1084 by St. Bruno of Cologne. The Carthusian Order is reportedly one of the strictest orders of the Roman Catholic church. Although they don't take a vow of silence, the Monks speak only when absolutely necessary and once weekly on walks outside their monastery. The Monks told Groning it was premature and that they would contact him when the time was right. They got back to him nearly a decade and a half and told him they were ready. He was told that only he could enter the monastery and that he could only use natural light. He was also told that there be no musical score or soundtrack. And on top of all that he was told that there would be no interviews and commentaries. With all those restrictions, however, Philip Groning says that those did not affect his intentions for the film. So he spent several months living, working, and filming over 120 hours of life in the French Alps in the Great Charterhouse of the Carthusian Order.
"Lord you have seduced me, and I was seduced." I wouldn't call INTO GREAT SILENCE a documentary, because the film INTO GREAT SILENCE is an experience. It plays on every sense and it entrances you into using your intangible senses as well. It lives up to its name as there is hardly any dialogue and interviews. And there are absolutely no commentaries and voice-overs. You don't hear a human voice until 20 minutes into the film. But the rare human voice in the film makes you appreciate the sounds of nature that surround that quiet place in the French Alps. You experience the poetry of the sound of the snow falling, melting, and dripping. The sound of bells tolling and rain dropping creates a melody. And the sound of Monks footsteps are like a serenade. But the Gregorian chants sung by these Monks are so hypnotic, haunting, and entrancing that it seduces you to surrender to their world.
And the film supplies a cinematic visual buffet. This film must be seen on the big screen. There is not one single frame in the film that can't be a featured photograph in some art museum. Every shot stimulates the eye, which in turn stimulates your heartbeat to a rhythm, which makes your body participate in that GREAT SILENCE. The occasional flashes of Bible verses, "Lord you have seduced me, and I was seduced" and "Anyone who does not give up all he has cannot be my disciple." Create a time of pause for one to reflect.
The narrative of the film follows several Monks. One of them an African novice who gives up everything he has to join the order. Another, a young Monk who has given up everything he owns and is new to the order. But how much did they really give up? We are reminded of the outside world by a single airliner flying above. And to contrast the silence of the Monks we glimpse tourists or pilgrims from afar. The film also follows an elderly Monk who takes care of the garden and grounds and a blind elderly Monk at the end of his life. When one watches these Monks and is drawn into their life one sees the "joyfulness" of their penitence. The rhythm of their life is as entrancing as the Gregorian chants they sing. The peaceful serenity of their world and surroundings does indeed seduce one.
The film does not aim to preach or teach. The film entrances you to experience the world of these Monks as they honestly are. Weather you agree with them or not one sees the sincerity of their prayer, work, mass, rituals, and meal as poetic innocence. One cannot help but experience personal joy as these Monks slide down snowy slopes with their shoes. And while these Monks do give up everything they own, the nature that surrounds them are so breathtakingly priceless that one longs to stay in that peaceful serene place in the French Alps.
INTO GREAT SILENCE is indeed a cinematic experience much more than a film documentary for entertainment or educational purposes. The almost three hours of rare dialogue had a very loud and clear point of view. This is how the Monks gave up everything so that they can be God's disciples. And this is how God seduced them and why they are seduced. This is the world of the Monks of the Carthusian Order. The almost three hours, although slow, were needed so that one could immerse in those French Alps with those faithful Monks. And admittedly in the later part of the almost three hour film I was fidgeting. But when it was done. I had wanted to experience it all over again. "Lord you have seduced me, and I was seduced."
INTO GREAT SILENCE is not for the popcorn flick fan. If you're into blockbusters and that's your taste then you probably won't like this film. You must be a staunch art house film-goer. You must be a sophisticated film watcher to truly appreciate this film. Your taste level for film must be at a higher level to enjoy this film with little ease. But if you're not any of those and you surrender to this film you will have no doubt a poetic, mesmerizing, hypnotic, sensual, introspective and breathtaking experience.
As the story goes, in the early 1980s Philip Groning contacted the Roman Catholic Monks of the Carthusian Order, which was founded in 1084 by St. Bruno of Cologne. The Carthusian Order is reportedly one of the strictest orders of the Roman Catholic church. Although they don't take a vow of silence, the Monks speak only when absolutely necessary and once weekly on walks outside their monastery. The Monks told Groning it was premature and that they would contact him when the time was right. They got back to him nearly a decade and a half and told him they were ready. He was told that only he could enter the monastery and that he could only use natural light. He was also told that there be no musical score or soundtrack. And on top of all that he was told that there would be no interviews and commentaries. With all those restrictions, however, Philip Groning says that those did not affect his intentions for the film. So he spent several months living, working, and filming over 120 hours of life in the French Alps in the Great Charterhouse of the Carthusian Order.
"Lord you have seduced me, and I was seduced." I wouldn't call INTO GREAT SILENCE a documentary, because the film INTO GREAT SILENCE is an experience. It plays on every sense and it entrances you into using your intangible senses as well. It lives up to its name as there is hardly any dialogue and interviews. And there are absolutely no commentaries and voice-overs. You don't hear a human voice until 20 minutes into the film. But the rare human voice in the film makes you appreciate the sounds of nature that surround that quiet place in the French Alps. You experience the poetry of the sound of the snow falling, melting, and dripping. The sound of bells tolling and rain dropping creates a melody. And the sound of Monks footsteps are like a serenade. But the Gregorian chants sung by these Monks are so hypnotic, haunting, and entrancing that it seduces you to surrender to their world.
And the film supplies a cinematic visual buffet. This film must be seen on the big screen. There is not one single frame in the film that can't be a featured photograph in some art museum. Every shot stimulates the eye, which in turn stimulates your heartbeat to a rhythm, which makes your body participate in that GREAT SILENCE. The occasional flashes of Bible verses, "Lord you have seduced me, and I was seduced" and "Anyone who does not give up all he has cannot be my disciple." Create a time of pause for one to reflect.
The narrative of the film follows several Monks. One of them an African novice who gives up everything he has to join the order. Another, a young Monk who has given up everything he owns and is new to the order. But how much did they really give up? We are reminded of the outside world by a single airliner flying above. And to contrast the silence of the Monks we glimpse tourists or pilgrims from afar. The film also follows an elderly Monk who takes care of the garden and grounds and a blind elderly Monk at the end of his life. When one watches these Monks and is drawn into their life one sees the "joyfulness" of their penitence. The rhythm of their life is as entrancing as the Gregorian chants they sing. The peaceful serenity of their world and surroundings does indeed seduce one.
The film does not aim to preach or teach. The film entrances you to experience the world of these Monks as they honestly are. Weather you agree with them or not one sees the sincerity of their prayer, work, mass, rituals, and meal as poetic innocence. One cannot help but experience personal joy as these Monks slide down snowy slopes with their shoes. And while these Monks do give up everything they own, the nature that surrounds them are so breathtakingly priceless that one longs to stay in that peaceful serene place in the French Alps.
INTO GREAT SILENCE is indeed a cinematic experience much more than a film documentary for entertainment or educational purposes. The almost three hours of rare dialogue had a very loud and clear point of view. This is how the Monks gave up everything so that they can be God's disciples. And this is how God seduced them and why they are seduced. This is the world of the Monks of the Carthusian Order. The almost three hours, although slow, were needed so that one could immerse in those French Alps with those faithful Monks. And admittedly in the later part of the almost three hour film I was fidgeting. But when it was done. I had wanted to experience it all over again. "Lord you have seduced me, and I was seduced."