Into Great Silence

Synopsis

Silence at the movies pays, and that profound and engrossing variety of German documentary Into Great Silence (Die Grosse Stille), by Philip Groening (who produced the film with Bavaria Film and Swiss company Ventura Films), won the hearts of jury members of the World Cinema Documentary Section at the Sundance Festival, who bestowed upon it a Special Jury Prize.(Camillo De Marco / Cineuropa)

Deep in the French Alps lies La Grande Chartreuse, one of the world’s most ascetic monasteries. In 1984, the German filmmaker Philip Gröning wrote to the Carthusian religious order requesting permission to shoot a documentary about them. They wrote him back saying they needed to think about it. Sixteen years later they gave their approval, in a unique gesture by this monastery that otherwise never admits outsiders. For six months Gröning lived among the monks, filming their daily prayers, chores, rituals and rare visits outdoors. He used neither crew nor artificial lighting, and there's no musical soundtrack or voice-over. The monks spend 18 hours each day in silence; living in silence and solitude brings them as close as possible to God. This observational film offers a thorough immersion into transcendental monastic life. In the silence, all that remains is elemental: time, space and light. More than a documentary, Gröning’s masterpiece is a meditation, a film about consciousness and absolute presence. This is cinema at its purest. (IDFA 2017)

Festivals/awards

Festivals:
IFF Venedig 2005
IFF Toronto 2005
IFF Rotterdam 2006
SUNDANCE FF 2006
IDFA TOP 10 2017

Awards:
Bayerischer Filmpreis — Bester Dokumentarfilm
Nominiert für den Deutschen Filmpreis
European Film Academy Dokumentarfilm 2006 – Prix Arte

Film Info

Co-Production Company

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