Into Great Silence

Zeitgeist Films | Release Date: February 28, 2007

6.3	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Ratings

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DavidLCMay 1, 2007

For those who have been and are curious about monastic life in its most severe application, this documentary is a MUST SEE! The films absolute clarity and maintaing the every-day routine of the Cicerstian Order of Monks is awesome and so For those who have been and are curious about monastic life in its most severe application, this documentary is a MUST SEE! The films absolute clarity and maintaing the every-day routine of the Cicerstian Order of Monks is awesome and so true to the reality of the monk's life in the cloistered monastary. An ongoing thread in the film sums up quite precisely the "m.o." of what each individual man must "buy into" to be commited to the severity of the monastic life: "The Lord seduced me; and I was seduced!" One flaw of the documentary: way too long in duration...a fault of the director/producer. This film could have easily gotten its powerful message across in less than two hours.… Expand

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PatG.Mar 10, 2007

I loved it. Fascinating. The beauty of the stone, the wood, the ancient architecture, the monks--and the silence--is stunning. Yes, nothing really happens, but it all feels very meaningful and potent. And I did not tire of it after two hours I loved it. Fascinating. The beauty of the stone, the wood, the ancient architecture, the monks--and the silence--is stunning. Yes, nothing really happens, but it all feels very meaningful and potent. And I did not tire of it after two hours as some reviewers did. I went to a Saturday matinee, and the theater was packed! Apparently people do appreciate such things. I certainly do.… Expand

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LeirisMar 14, 2007

One of the great film-going experiences of my life. Seeing this in a large audience was remarkable

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PatrickF.Jul 21, 2007

Anyone who thinks that life is simply not worth considering without their TiVo/PDA/BMW/whatever needs to be dragged by their ear and tied down in front of the entirety of this meditation on simplicity, humanity, and connectedness to both Anyone who thinks that life is simply not worth considering without their TiVo/PDA/BMW/whatever needs to be dragged by their ear and tied down in front of the entirety of this meditation on simplicity, humanity, and connectedness to both well-aged tradition and ageless contemplation of the Absolute. Yes, the pacing can be euphemistically described as "contemplative," and it is quite lengthy (be in a good seat lest your neck and hindquarters protest mightily), but it practically forces the viewer to consider, often deeply, what is going on and why these people feel so compelled to live with such an intention. Touche, Michael Bay.… Expand

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Michal_OwsiakDec 7, 2021

La Grande Chartreuse. A life is happening here. A life whose rhythm is determined by the pendulum of the monastery bell and the harmony of intrinsic intervals of nature. Thanks to Philip Gröning's lens, we can observe this extraordinary cycleLa Grande Chartreuse. A life is happening here. A life whose rhythm is determined by the pendulum of the monastery bell and the harmony of intrinsic intervals of nature. Thanks to Philip Gröning's lens, we can observe this extraordinary cycle from close range for over two and a half hours. "Into Great Silence" is a film of incredible power. And this sentence can be understood in many ways.

The power with which the work affects the viewer; the depth of the eponymous silence, accompanying us for a large part of the screening, can be clearly felt on our own skin. Every sound of the inverted page of the prayer book or the sight of drops of water quietly sliding down the drying vessel gains full weight and the beauty of simple presence here. Every common activity, every seemingly insignificant sound in this film delineates individual figure of transcendental wholeness, drawing an elusive but clearly perceptible outline. Kapuściński wrote: "When you are in a hurry, you can't see anything, you don't feel anything, you don't experience anything." Gröning is well aware of this. Therefore, he is in no rush. He allows himself long, static shots, which by their very nature faithfully reflect everyday life of a Carthusian monks.

The resilience and fortitude of specific, tangible human individuals, whose faces, closed in portrait frames, look us in the eye during the film is another impression that we stay with after watching it. These are the people who, at the foothills of the French Alps, have found something that Jep Gambardella - the main character of Paolo Sorrentino's opus magnum - was searching vainly among the noisy streets of the Eternal City. Undoubtedly, the decision to reach for the fulfillment of such a great desire requires extraordinary courage. It requires even more to persevere in it once it is taken. The director shows us the pictures of dried out, hunched bodies of ascetics, in which, despite everything, there is still strength to choose this great beauty every day, which is certainly an attribute of a simple, not to say austere life, when it is consciously and mindfully lived.

Finally, one should write about the power that attracted these people in some way. This inexpressible magnetism voicelessly underlines the entire movie. The people presented in it become an archetypal collective hero, like from a fictional film, that responded to a special call and set out on a heroic journey, guided by the teachings of their master, leaving behind the current world and a tight attachment to it. Several times we read from the screen the words: "You seduced me, Lord, and I let myself be seduced." Like the breviary mantra, the Gospel passage is also repeated: "Whoever does not leave everything and follow me, cannot be my disciple." The world they decided to leave behind - distant, but still present at its distance - is reminded of several times with the frames of a hazy silhouette of a passenger plane gliding high above the ground. They also resemble the shots from the chronologically later "Roma" by Alfonso Cuarón. However, while the work of the Mexican, densely packed with symbolic polarizations, uses the plane as a symbol of transcendence, in this film it will mean something completely opposite - the fading murmur of the south in an expedition on which the Pole Star is marking the way.

"Into Great Silence" is a film of incredible power. And this sentence can be understood in many ways. Therefore, it is best to immerse yourself in it and try to understand it yourself.… Expand

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