- Format: PAL
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 2
- Classification: Exempt
- Studio: Soda Pictures
- DVD Release Date: 14 May 2007
- Run Time: 164 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000NDETLA
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 11,254 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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DVD Description
Into Great Silence is a very strict, next to silent meditation on monastic life in a very pure form. No music except the chants in the monastery, no interviews, no commentaries, no extra material. Changing of time, seasons, and the ever repeated elements of the day, of the prayer. A film to become a monastery, rather than depict one. A film on awareness, absolute presence, and the life of men who devoted their lifetimes to God in the purest of form. Contemplation. An object in time. Into Great Silence is the first film ever about life inside the Grande Chartreuse, the mother house of the legendary Carthusian Order in the French Alps. From the director of the award-winning 'L'amour, l'argent, l'amour' and 'The Terrorists'.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
184 of 185 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is not a film to be rushed, any more than the Carthusian way of life itself. The monks at La Grande Chartreuse live in solitude high in the Alps, in a life of prayer and quiet almost unknown elsewhere in the Western Christian tradition. In an order where the monks are not renowned for their singing, and whose communities are really hermits banded together, what we are invited to look at is spirituality as sight and as hearing in ways that in a fast-paced, media-dominated world we may miss. We see the changing seasons in a monastery in the Alps: the oblique light on a stone wall, the gentle drip of water, the crackle of a fire in a rickety stove. All seen and experienced slowly, with a minimum of dialogue. This means that, when we hear the monks singing in their long night services the canticle "O all you works of the Lord, O bless the Lord" and we see, using time-lapse filming, a night's worth of stars wheeling over the mountain valley where the monastery is, we get somewhere close to the central intent of the film: how to portray a life where the drama is unseen, where the action is interior, where time works in a different way than we might expect. Philip Groening underlines this by repetition of phrases from the Bible, and by footage of some of the community sitting silent in front of the camera; we can guess, but cannot know what they are thinking or feeling.
A bio-pic of a religious hero or founder may (or may not) make a good film, but at least it's a narrative, and as viewers we are comfortable with narrative, have standards against which we can judge the effectiveness of the storytelling &c. Groening avoids this by looking at the lives of the Carthusian monks in terms of their aesthetic. In a curious way this gives a very deep insight into the almost silent life of the community. The film is non-judgmental, although my heart went out to the lay brother and the cats and followed the choir monk ringing the bells anxiously when he was late. I don't know if it makes me want to be a Carthusian, but I do know that when I've watched this film I am conscious of those everyday sights and sounds in my life so much more.
There are creaks in the film, where restrictions on filming or (very occasionally) poor quality of images take the edge off the experience, but they are part of the event. It is, for me, simply one of the best films I own, but it's not an easy film to watch, demanding time and attention: things that would appear to be at the heart of the Carthusian experience.
A bio-pic of a religious hero or founder may (or may not) make a good film, but at least it's a narrative, and as viewers we are comfortable with narrative, have standards against which we can judge the effectiveness of the storytelling &c. Groening avoids this by looking at the lives of the Carthusian monks in terms of their aesthetic. In a curious way this gives a very deep insight into the almost silent life of the community. The film is non-judgmental, although my heart went out to the lay brother and the cats and followed the choir monk ringing the bells anxiously when he was late. I don't know if it makes me want to be a Carthusian, but I do know that when I've watched this film I am conscious of those everyday sights and sounds in my life so much more.
There are creaks in the film, where restrictions on filming or (very occasionally) poor quality of images take the edge off the experience, but they are part of the event. It is, for me, simply one of the best films I own, but it's not an easy film to watch, demanding time and attention: things that would appear to be at the heart of the Carthusian experience.
83 of 84 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a very beautiful film. The Carthusian monks of La Grande Chartreuse allowed Philip Groning to film alone with no commentary or interviews for a total of six months. The result is a film which demands from the viewer just a tiny measure of the patience, attentiveness and silence which characterises the life of this community. The insight one gains into one of the Church's most ascetic Christian communities is more profound than a documentary full of 'information' or titlating facts. The viewer is more than a 'voyeur'. Frequently, the camera depicts expressions, postures, the textures of skin, the glint of snow or the splashing of rain in exquisite detail. At other times, the camera's gaze is blurred and grainy, reminding us that our view of this extraordinary community - and, indeed, the world - is far from clear. Whereas so much modern cinema relies on plot and effect, this film returns us to the aesthetic potential of film as a visual medium in examining a completely different kind of human living. The monks are not 'escaping', but confronting the human condition in a different way. In the middle of the night, from midnight to 2am or 3am, thirty or so men in the French Alps are praying for the world. Thank God.
47 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The finding of God in solitude, is the essence of the monastic path. This film is rare, for it allows the viewer to become an observer of a way of life that is a mystery to most and a chosen vocation of a few.
Any monastery exists around a 'Rule' of discipline, designed to still the Mind, and open the heart. The Rules are generaly very strict, so as to 'limit' one's participation in the world of chaotic emotion, turbulent desire. When the emotions are 'stilled', they then may be transformed into the Love of God, a direct and personal contact that is beyond description, but a product of discipline on the physical level.
The monastery setting, is a holy place to commune with the divine that lies at the heart of humanity. The extraordinary feat of the producer of this film, is that he managed to remain virtually 'hidden' in the monastery, whilst filming all that occured within his range of perception. One feels the sheer dedication and holy silence that permeates the stone hallways and monastic cells.
This s not a film to stimulate the senses, but rather to take one beyond the senses, and at least, as a viewer, allow for the possibility that there maybe more to life than is generally observed by the senses. A divine presence behind the material play of the world.
By performing a daily ritual of prayer, meditation, contemplation and Gregorian Chant, the monks strive to purify their inner beings in preparation with the eventual uniting with God. Essence in repetition. We see young postulants entering as novices, and an extremely old monk, enveloped in spiritual rapture, a consequence of a lifetime of service.
This is definitely a film of the spirit, intended for the spirit.
Any monastery exists around a 'Rule' of discipline, designed to still the Mind, and open the heart. The Rules are generaly very strict, so as to 'limit' one's participation in the world of chaotic emotion, turbulent desire. When the emotions are 'stilled', they then may be transformed into the Love of God, a direct and personal contact that is beyond description, but a product of discipline on the physical level.
The monastery setting, is a holy place to commune with the divine that lies at the heart of humanity. The extraordinary feat of the producer of this film, is that he managed to remain virtually 'hidden' in the monastery, whilst filming all that occured within his range of perception. One feels the sheer dedication and holy silence that permeates the stone hallways and monastic cells.
This s not a film to stimulate the senses, but rather to take one beyond the senses, and at least, as a viewer, allow for the possibility that there maybe more to life than is generally observed by the senses. A divine presence behind the material play of the world.
By performing a daily ritual of prayer, meditation, contemplation and Gregorian Chant, the monks strive to purify their inner beings in preparation with the eventual uniting with God. Essence in repetition. We see young postulants entering as novices, and an extremely old monk, enveloped in spiritual rapture, a consequence of a lifetime of service.
This is definitely a film of the spirit, intended for the spirit.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Silence is indeed golden
If watching monks in white hooded robes knelt down in deep contemplative prayer is your thing this is your film. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jan Mecir
Astonishingly edifying
A combination of the artful filming and the beautiful setting of this film make it unmissable. It is lengthy, but appropriately so. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mr. Benjamin Huntley
Saturated Silence: the View of an Agnostic
I am an agnostic. I saw this film as part of my job at a cinema and was engrossed, but it was only when I visited the Carthusian monastery at Villeneuve-les-Avignon and saw the... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Nicholas Casley
Into Great Silence
Into Great Silence may appeal to some who are searching, you may not find all your answers here, but this should carry you a good distance along the way. Read more
Published 14 months ago by RobertPH
Will you not watch with me one hour (or three)?
Philip Gröning's cinematic landmark consists of nearly three hours of mostly silent contemplation of the life of prayer of the Carthusian community of La Grande Chartreuse,... Read more
Published 14 months ago by E. L. Wisty
A new kind of experience
I purchased this DVD to see and experience how this Christians monks live their life in a monastery. It is absolutely wonderful movie. Read more
Published 16 months ago by W. H. E. Jamil
Being a monk is a healthy occupation!
This documentary only got made after many years' negotiation between the Abbot and this dedicated, gifted and thoughtful film maker. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Richard Watts
This is the most beautiful film I have ever seen
It brings me peace every time I watch it. It's long, and the pace is very slow. I have actually never seen the whole of it without falling asleep! Read more
Published 21 months ago by Penelope Wilcock
Sloooow but beautiful
If you can be still and watch the daily actions and prayers of a group of monks unfold without itching for some drama then this is for you. Read more
Published 21 months ago by A. Tebbenhoff
A monastic retreat on DVD, warts and all
I bought this after reading 'An Infinity of Little Hours' which follows novices in a Carthusian monastery. I enjoyed that book, so I thought I'd enjoy this DVD. Read more
Published 23 months ago by D. King
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