Into Great Silence

I am almost speechless after spending the entire day watching this film and its accompanying features about the lives of Carthusian monks in France. To say it was a spiritual experience is a huge understatement.

The cinematography alone would be enough to recommend it; the integrity of its method and message, as well. With no external sound track and only sparse, natural ambient sound (almost no dialogue), the film time-lapses a year in the centuries-old monastery, its monks, their lives and traditions. It has affected me very, very deeply.

A slow, quiet, and ponderous documentary, it brought sudden tears, a few laughs, and many gasps at its beauty and insight. The significance and impact of silence and solitude in cultivating the spiritual are illustrated magnificently here, with little romanticizing. And were there not one instance of enlightenment, the visual artistry of the movie is reason enough to watch every frame.

The movie is just the beginning, for the features on the 2nd disk kept adding layers and layers of meaning and inspiration. We made a day-long retreat of it, and it took us to a place of new and heightened awareness. We were amazed.