Into Great Silence

Philip Gröning's 2005 documentary follows the daily life of the Carthusian monks at the Grande Chartreuse monastery in the French Alps. Gröning first asked permission in 1984; the monastery said it wanted time to consider, and agreed sixteen years later. He stayed there alone, without a crew, for six months. There is no voice-over, no music and no artificial light; the only sound is the monks' own chant and the place itself. That choice makes silence an experience rather than a subject. It runs close to three hours and has, deliberately, no narrative progression. It asks an unusual attention of the viewer. Who it's for: viewers who like meditative documentary and are curious about monastic life. Who it's not for: anyone wanting narrative, or who will find long silences unbearable.