Into Great Silence (Die Grosse Still)

Dir: Philip Gröning (Germany), French with English Subtitles, 164 mins

In 1985, Philip Gröning approached the prior of Grande Chartreuse, the Carthusian monastery near Grenoble in the French Alps, to request that he be allowed to film the life of the monks. They were not yet ready; they would get back to him. As might be expected of the strictest monastic order in the Catholic Church, they were as good as their word, and in 1999, the prior got back to him. Over the course of a year, Gröning spent four months living alongside the monks, accumulating HD and Super 8 footage. The result is this near-silent documentary of 240 minutes.

It can be said at once that this is a genuinely unique visual record of the Carthusian pattern of life. Monks are shown at their perpetual cycle of prayer, worship, work, and study. Captions, repeatedly shown on screen for a few seconds, allude to the inexorable rhythm of their life. The brotherhood, as far as is possible, is self-sustaining. We see one fragile monk, stooped with old age, shovelling away snow to plant seeds; another is observed cutting the cloth to make the monk’s cassock; another is in the kitchen, efficiently chopping celery. The world, however, will not be kept wholly at bay: the prior is shown at a laptop, surrounded, it seems, by unpaid bills and invoices.

Though the film does not contain a narrative as such, the progress of two young novices lays a linear trace over this cyclical ritualism. Monastic life, this reminds us, aspires not to some Gormanghastian stasis but progress towards an understanding of God’s grace. And the rigidity of their monastic life should not disguise from us that these men are marked by human affections and sympathies. During their ritualised welcome to the monastery, each monk greets the novices individually, ancient faces breaking into broad smiles. On their weekly walk, when the monks are permitted to chat together, we all-too briefly eavesdrop on them gossiping about other monasteries. They even enjoy sledging, laughing as they tumble into snowdrifts.

This film is of exceptional cinematic beauty, making particularly subtle use of time-lapse photography. As the seasons change, so is the monastery’s setting transformed from the startling Alpine whites of winter through to the sunlit green warmth of summer. The elemental textures of monastic life are lovingly conveyed through the grainy photography: this is a place of wood, stone, cloth, paper, and skin, of simple chairs, tables, and books. And the film is far from silent. Watching it is an experience akin to being in quiet places. The ear gradually regains its sensitivity, registering the creaking wood and the wind that gives the building its voice. Chairs scrape across stone, axes cut through wood, men breathe; and during the Gregorian chant of worship, old monks cough and clear their throats.

Above all, we learn that this fraternity is built on interdependence rather than interaction. God has tried to seduce these men and they have been seduced. 80% of the novices decide they cannot meet the exceptionally tough and isolating standards of fidelity this love demands, a proportion of the remaining 20% are asked to leave. Despite this high drop-out rate, Into Great Silence beautifully shows us why devout young men might wish to take up the challenge laid down by the Carthusian way of life.

Into Great Silence opens in cinemas on Friday 29 December.

Matt Kelly