Die große Stille (2005)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Philip Gröning

Writer:

Philip Gröning (writer)

Release Date:

10 November 2005 (Germany)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

A unique, transcendent and transporting cinematic event

Plot:

An examination of life inside the Grande Chartreuse, the head monastery of the reclusive Carthusian Order in France. |

Plot Keywords:

Monastery | Haircut | No Music Score | Ritual | Christian Theme

Awards:

5 wins & 3 nominations

Directed by
Philip Gröning

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Philip Gröning		writer

Produced by
Frank Evers	....	co-producer
Philip Gröning	....	executive producer
Philip Gröning	....	producer
Elda Guidinetti	....	producer
Andres Pfäffli	....	producer
Jörg Schulze	....	co-producer
Jörg Schulze	....	executive producer
Michael Stricker	....	executive producer
Michael Weber	....	producer

Original Music by
Michael Busch
Philip Gröning

Cinematography by
Philip Gröning

Film Editing by
Philip Gröning

Production Management
Stefan Ciupek	....	post-production supervisor

Sound Department
Michael Busch	....	original sound
Michael Busch	....	sound producer
Peter Crooks	....	sound editor
Samir Foco	....	sound editor
Philip Gröning	....	original sound
Philip Gröning	....	sound editor
Philip Gröning	....	sound
Michael Hinreiner	....	sound editor
Michael Hinreiner	....	sound effects editor
Benedikt Just	....	sound editor
Michael Kranz	....	sound mixer
Benjamin Rosenkind	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Stefan Andemann	....	colourist

Editorial Department
Debora Neumann	....	post-production coordinator

Other crew
Karl Riedl	....	creative editing advisor

Thanks
Christian Colmorgen	....	thanks
Henning Kamm	....	thanks
Dieter Kosslick	....	thanks
Frank Kruse	....	thanks
Michael Schmid-Ospach	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Arte
• Bavaria-Filmkunst Verleih
• Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR)
• Cine Plus
• Philip-Gröning-Filmproduktion
• Televisione Svizzera Italiana (TSI)
• Ventura Film
• Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Distributors

• X Verleih AG (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Frenetic Films (2005) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Cinemien (2006) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Cinemien (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Diaphana Films (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Karma Films (2006) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Metacinema (2006) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Soda Pictures (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• Zeitgeist Films (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Homescreen (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2007) (Finland) (TV)
• Zeitgeist Films (2007) (USA) (all media)

Also Known As:

Into Great Silence (International: English title)
Le grand silence (France)

Runtime:

169 min | Canada:164 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

France | Switzerland | Germany

Language:

English | French | Latin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | UK:U | Germany:o.Al. | Portugal:M/6 | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Grande Chartreuse, Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, Isère, France

Company:

Arte

Quotes:

Intertitle Card (repeated line): Anyone who does not give up all he has cannot be my disciple.

Expect art, not a documentary

If you begin watching this film expecting an explanatory documentary about monastic life in La Grande Chartreuse, you may soon become bored and fed up. If you begin watching this film expecting to be taken into the monastic way of life, you will soon find yourself there. The movie takes the pace of the slow, quiet atmosphere of the monastery. Long periods of silence broken by the occasional creak of floorboards or chanting or bells, and very little dialogue. It is like each shot is a photograph. A moving photograph.

It is not entirely what one expects, however. Keep an eye out for the odd object seemingly out of place: the highlighter, the keyboard, the laptop; the odd conversation on a monk's departure for Seoul, South Korea; the shot of monks sliding down a snowy bank on their bums.

I wanted more explanation - how the individuals chose this way of life; how they sustain their community; what contact they have with secular people. But it is not that kind of documentary. As long as you're prepared for that, it is a film worth watching.