First of a Series

Because every semester I conduct film festivals at Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston, people frequently recommend films to me, either films that they think I will enjoy or films that they think I might use in one of the festivals. I greatly appreciate their interest and advice.

Some of the recommendations I cannot follow up on because of limits of time but occasionally one leads to a marvelous experience of cinema. That is the experience I had with “Into Great Silence.” I cannot compare my experience of viewing “Into Great Silence” with my experience of viewing any other film. This movie raises all sorts of questions about what effect a film can have on a viewer. It also raises questions about what a filmmaker can hope to accomplish with a film. In light of some of the really awful films that are being made today, I almost feel that some new word should be invented to classify “Into Great Silence.”

The following is from the flier that the Manhattan theatre, the Film Forum, put out on the occasion of the premiere of the film in this country:

“Film Forum is pleased to present the U.S. theatrical premiere of “Into Great Silence”: nestled deep in the postcard-perfect French Alps, the Grande Chartreuse is considered one of the most ascetic monasteries. In 1984, German filmmaker Philip Groning wrote to the Carthusian order for permission to make a documentary. They said they would get back to him. Sixteen years later, they were ready. Groning, sans crew or artificial lighting, lived in the monks’ quarters for six months – filming their daily prayers, tasks, rituals and rare outdoor excursions. This transcendent, closely observed film seeks to embody a monastery, rather than simply depict one – it has no score, no voiceover and no archival footage. Winner of the 2006 European Film Academy Award for Best Documentary.”

This is a scene from “Into Great Silence,” a documentary by filmmaker Philip Groning

about monks at a Carthusian monastery in the French Alps.

Thank heaven that Philip Groning persevered and did not give up his idea of making a documentary of the Carthusian community! I suppose that when you are living a life of prayer as the monks do, you are in a kind of quasi-eternity and time means little to you.

Viewing the film was a little like attending a prayer service. In fact, friends have told me that, when they saw it, they found themselves praying. At the screening I attended the theatre was silent. At one point, a lady arrived late and was looking for a seat which was not easy to find because almost all of them were taken. She was whispering to an usher and some members of the audience audibly voiced their annoyance at the disturbance she was making. The only other time that I can recall an audience of filmgoers being so silent and even solemn at a film was at the opening day (Ash Wednesday) screening of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” Both experiences were like being in church.

While watching the film and also later discussing it with the friend who was with me, I wondered how to categorize this experience. Viewing the film was not a typical “movie experience.” Was the director actually calling the audience to prayer or was it just that viewing the life of the monks led almost necessarily to prayer?

Describing the film The New York Times critic Manohla Dargis wrote:

“Into Great Silence” runs 162 minutes – 162 engrossing, entrancing, enlivening minutes…Philip Groning brings us inside a world as mysterious and often as silent as the dark side of the moon, a charterhouse of Carthusian monks in the French Alps. Founded in the 12th Century, the Carthusians are among the most rigorous of all Catholic orders… In an overwhelmingly noisy world, the Carthusians seek God in solitude; all things considered, including the inevitable tranquility and focus of their lives, you soon understand why… Through unrushed rhythms and a harmonious mise-en-scene, Mr. Groning finds beauty in a mote of dust, a patch of newly tilled earth and the long white eyebrows that hang over an aged blind monk’s eyes like a curtain. Grace, it seems, makes little noise.”

I am hoping that by the time this column appears “Into Great Silence” will be available on DVD. But I wonder if watching the film in a parlor or a den will be the same as viewing it in a darkened theatre filled with viewers who seem to be in awe at the monks’ contact with transcendence. I suspect not.