Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Die große Stille" or "Into Great Silence" is a German film from 2005, so it had its 10th anniversary last year. The writer and director is Philip Gröning and he has not only this film that has a massive runtime of almost three hours in his body of work. But lets not talk/write about his other projects on this this occasions, but on another. This film here was entirely made in a Carthusian monastery in France and the result of it is that there is no German language in here. Actually, there is almost no language at all as the people living there live their humble lives almost in complete silence. It is fine for them, but it is not really fine for the audience I must say as this is a film that really tests the audience's endurance. I guess you have to have a great interest in the Church and in monasteries perhaps too in order to enjoy this one. The idea and concept aren't bad and it shows that Gröning really wanted to make this movie after he tried it earlier on and the monastery said they weren't ready for somebody filming inside. But back in 2005 they were and the outcome is this film we have here. Actually, this project won quite a few awards and I cannot say I am surprised about that as this is exactly the film that pleases awards bodies I believe. It even won at the European Film Awards, our equivalent to the Oscars, even if it is not that well-known. So yeah, i think now I have summarized the main contents of the film and I believe that it's not necessary to go into detail any further in order fr you to decide whether you want to see it. The two crucial things one needs to know are that it is filmed inside a monastery and runs for 170 minutes and it's your choice if you plan on going on that adventure, what you could almost call it. For me personally, the subject was not interesting enough to keep this movie from dragging on several occasions and that's why I give it a thumbs-down.

donsmith-33 My wife and I had our first Sundance Cinema experience this week with a showing of Die Grosse Stille. The theater (brand new) is equipped with unbelievably comfortable chairs (not seats) that support the body with wonderful and relaxing ease. The film was, undoubtedly, our finest cinema experience ever. The almost three hour running time seem to slip by totally unnoticed as we were immersed in the lives of the Carthusian monks. Unfortunately for movie attendees in Madison (WI), this film played only one week and was gone. At our showing there were 12 persons in the theater; all were completely quiet and no outside sounds were heard. The best atmosphere to view this film. It was simply superb...all aspects of the monastery life were there for us to share. We will eagerly look forward to the DVD (US version) when it comes out later this year. Definitely not a movie for everyone but for those in the right frame of mind, a must see!!

Michael Fargo I've often pondered which sense would I rather lose: sight or hearing. I had decided sight would be the one to live without since music has the power to make me weep (often). But "Die Große Stille" has made me rethink all of that. It's a pointless game anyway, but I reexamined the importance of sound in my life versus the magnificent, ravishing images put forth in this film.Like the works of Frederick Wiseman, it's less a work of cinema than a window that Gröning offers. We watch seemingly arbitrary action both mundane and ecstatic. We're not "told" who these people are as individuals nor why they have chosen to wall themselves off from the world's joy and suffering. But as we watch, the pace of the film is slowed so that we enter this world and test our own thoughts about human contact as well as faith. But only if you're so inclined. There's no proselytizing.At one point late in the film one monk chides the world for living without God, and you immediately think, "How would YOU know?" And immediately we see the value of silence. In silence we don't argue or plead, complain or preach. We simply live with our thoughts, and here the brothers seem very comfortable with whatever it is they are thinking.Through repetition and ceremony, we enter the serenity these men have found. And while there's beauty in the physical aspects of both the natural world in its changing seasons as well as the cloistered setting, it's the tranquil beauty of faces that rivet. We meet them as individuals only in a series of live portraits where their eyes stare into the lens, through the camera, and into our souls. If I didn't have my sight, I would have missed that and been lesser for it.For me, this was an amazing experience. But for others in the theater it was tough evidenced by squirming and the occasional snore. Surprisingly, it was the younger members of the audience who seemed most entranced.

Genkem I wasn't quite ready for the film to start when it did, as I was agitated with other concerns, but as soon as it began my whole inner world was exposed and eventually the quiet drew me in, literally transformed me. This is an experience, not just a film. One that I'd like very much to repeat again.The filming is absolutely stunning, and the contemplative life of the monks is captured by the filmmaker beautifully. Apparently he spent six months among the monks, during which time he explored and suffered for himself alongside them and in private, becoming quiet enough himself to establish the right mood. Having read this, I now understand why this film re-created the atmosphere so successfully.I would strongly suggest that anyone interested in this film should view it for him or herself, leaving behind the reviews of others.