Documenting, however, is perhaps the wrong word. “Into Great Silence” offers a quietly powerful portrait of monastic life in the Grande Chartreuse. It’s like a still life beautifully illustrated with moving pictures, from the monks themselves as they go about their daily routines, to sweeping shots of the monastery buildings and their beautiful alpine environment. There are no voiceovers, no narratives, no explanations or history lessons. There is no music, except when we happen to join the monks for their daily chant. It’s just the camera and microphone acting like our eyes and ears in a place described as one of the world’s most ascetic monasteries. We see long corridors, vaulted ceilings, wooden pews in small chapels and large cathedral-like space. We see, through macroscopic photography, flowers, leaves, rain, snowfall, founts and other details both environmental and architectural. We spend time with the monks as they work, pray, eat, or study in their bare, unadorned cells. We tag along, from a distance, as they occasionally share a communal meal and then stroll outside the monastery’s walls for a bit of recreation and companionship.
The Quality of Timelessness
Throughout all this, Groening’s editing, while not ignoring the chronological passage of time, allows it to be obscured. Although seasons change as the film progresses and we have a vague notion of days passing, the impression is still that of timelessness rather than time. How the monks live in pious devotion ends up seeming as immutable as the structure of the Grande Chartreuse itself. Of course, this is the point. As the Carthusian Order’s website points out, the monks have been following a way of life set down by their founder, St-Bruno, over 900 years ago.
If Groning falters, it’s toward the end when it seems that he gets lost in the lack of a beginning or end. Without any kind of plot or narrative, knowing quite when to stop is a bit of a challenge. Groning ends up breaking out of his format by presenting a quasi-interview with a monk, then recycling images we’ve already seen.
But again, given how unique and remarkable a film this is and just how rare an opportunity it represents, it’s a minor complaint. Without CGI, camera trickery, or even any staging (the monks only rarely pay attention to the camera), “Into Great Silence” takes us into a fascinating other-world, filled with silence and contemplation. It shows how, quite frankly, we don’t always need fantasy to encounter the fantastic. Sometimes, all it takes is a willingness to look to other people.
Technical Quality: ** (out of two)
Star Awarded!
Into Great Silence. Zeitgest Films presents a film directed by Phillip Groening. 169 minutes.