''Into Great Silence'' (german: Die große Stille) is a 2005

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by

Philip Gröning Philip Gröning (born 7 April 1959 in Düsseldorf) is a German director, documentary film maker and screenwriter. Career Gröning was raised in Germany and US, but also traveled extensively. He studied Medicine and Psychology before beginning in ...

. An

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...

between France, Switzerland and Germany, it is an intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

monks of the

Grande Chartreuse Grande Chartreuse () is the head monastery of the Carthusian religious order. It is located in the Chartreuse Mountains, north of the city of Grenoble, in the commune of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse (Isère), France. History Originally, the ch ...

, a monastery high in the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

(

Chartreuse Mountains The Chartreuse Mountains (french: massif de la Chartreuse ) are a mountain range in southeastern France, stretching from the city of Grenoble in the south to the Lac du Bourget in the north. They are part of the French Prealps, which continue a ...

Production

Gröning proposed the idea for the film to the monks in 1984, but the Carthusians said they wanted time to think about it. They responded to him 16 years later to say they were willing to permit him to shoot the movie if he was still interested. Gröning then came alone to live at the monastery, and to stay in the

enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

, where except of the order's aspirants no visitors are allowed, for a total of six months in 2002 and 2003. He filmed and recorded on his own, using no

artificial light Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing dayligh ...

. Afterwards, he spent two and a half years editing the film. The final cut contains neither spoken commentary nor added sound effects. It consists of images and sounds that depict the rhythm of monastic life, with occasional intertitles displaying selections from

Holy Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

.Steven D. Greydanus
Into Great Silence.
Written for Catholic World Report. Retrieved 6 July 2010.

Reception

The film has experienced generally laudatory reception, with 89% of critics on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

responding with positive reviews in the T-metric section and a "certified fresh" rating. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting listed ''Into Great Silence'' as one of the best ten films of 2007.Ten Best List for the Year 2007
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting. The Carthusian monks themselves loved the film.

Awards

* ''Special Jury Prize'' at the 2006 Sundance Festival. *

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mo ...

2006, Documentary - Prix Arte * Bavarian Film Award best documentary film on Friday, 13. January 2006 * Film Award of the German Association of Film Critics, best documentary film, 2006 * Film Award of the German Film Critics, best documentary film, 2006 * Film Award German Camera, best camera in a documentary film, 2006 * Jury Film Award for the best documentary film in the international festival contest of São Paulo/Rio de Janeiro * International Ennio Flaiano Award of Pescara in Italy for best camera and best film

References

External links

* *
Official web page

Slant Magazine Film Review by Keith Uhlich

U.S. distributor: Zeitgeist films - includes 12 page press kit, downloadable
{{Authority control 2005 films Sundance Film Festival award winners European Film Awards winners (films) Films about Catholicism Documentary films about Christianity Documentary films about spirituality Carthusian Order French documentary films Swiss documentary films German documentary films 2005 documentary films 2000s French films 2000s German films

Production

Reception

Awards

See also

References

External links