Into Great Silence

Into Great Silence (German: Die große Stille) is a 2005 documentary film directed by Philip Gröning. An international co-production between France, Switzerland and Germany, it is an intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, a monastery high in the French Alps (Chartreuse Mountains).

This article is about the 2005 documentary film. For the similarly-named 1968 Spaghetti Western film, see The Great Silence.
Into Great Silence
Promotional poster
Directed byPhilip Gröning
Produced byPhilip Gröning
Written byPhilip Gröning
Music bymonks of the Grande Chartreuse
Distributed byZeitgeist Films
Release date
  • 4 September 2005 (2005-09-04) (Venice)
  • 30 November 2005 (2005-11-30) (Germany)
  • 20 December 2006 (2006-12-20) (France)
Running time
162 minutes
CountryFrance
Switzerland
Germany
LanguageFrench
Latin

Production

The idea for the film was proposed to the monks in 1984, but the Carthusians said they wanted time to think about it. They responded to Gröning 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, where no visitors were ordinarily allowed, for a total of six months in 2002 and 2003. He filmed and recorded on his own, using no artificial light.

Gröning then 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.[1]

Reception

The film has experienced generally laudatory reception, with 89% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes responding with positive reviews in the T-metric section and a "certified fresh" rating.[2] United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting listed Into Great Silence as one of the best ten films of 2007.[3] The Carthusian monks themselves loved the film.[1]

Awards
  • Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Sundance Festival.
  • European Film Awards 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

See also

References
  1. Steven D. Greydanus. Into Great Silence. Written for Catholic World Report. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  2. Into Great Silence. Rotten Tomatoes.
  3. Ten Best List for the Year 2007. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting.

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