Stars:
*** 1/2
Rating: Not Rated but
could be PG for mature themes
Run
Time: 2
hours, 42 minutes. In French and Latin with English subtitles
Patience is
a virtue in Philip Gröning’s mesmerizing documentary that offers a rare glimpse
into the lives of the Carthusian monks of the Grand Chartreuse Monastery in the
French Alps.
There’s a
method to Gröning’s madness. Sixteen years after he asked permission to film
the Catholic Church’s strictest order he was invited to proceed; with one
camera, no artificial lighting and no crew.
From several
months of capturing the monks’ daily rhythms on film Gröning has created a work
that is essentially simple and purely profound. Existing on everlasting prayer
and joyful penance the brothers of the Carthusian community live in near-permanent
silence in their service to God – using words only to further their work and
during a weekly walk devised to strengthen mutual affection.
Beyond the
realm of language “Silence” speaks volumes about the joys of minimalism;
gardening, tailoring, reading and prayer. All is pared down to basics – the
preparation of a simple soup, the cutting and sewing of a garment from remnant
scraps, etc. The smallest sounds loom large and absorbing, from the scuff of
slippers in a deserted alcove to the metrical ticking of a clock.
The most
intriguing aspect is the endless fascination inherent in nearly three hours of
immersion into monastic life. Even the changing of the seasons takes on a
special import, ripe with the voluptuous pulse of nature’s own sensual beat.
The monks –
who spend on average sixty-five years cloistered within their walls – are
deeply spiritual yet almost childlike in their approach to small pleasures;
delighting in a snowball fight or a shared joke on their weekly strolls.
Gröning
shot one hundred and twenty hours of film, acquiring profound images along the
way. Long lingering close-ups of individual monks’ faces enthrall; at once
haunting and voyeuristic.
There’s an
inherent beauty to the magical monotony of “Silence” that took me by surprise;
impressionistic, moving, and worth slowing down for.