Into
Great Silence
a review by guest critic,
Dominic DeLay, OP (Holy Name)
The movie "Into Great Silence" is a gentle wind of grace that
is blowing through festivals and theaters across the world. I
watched it on Holy Saturday and found myself immersed in nearly
three hours of riveting silence. No story, no dialogue, no main
characters, no dramatic twists and turns. The movie isn't about
anything. It's not even about the contemplative Carthusian monks
of the Grande Chartreuse in the French Alps. Rather, this movie
is an actual sharing in their contemplative experience. It's
a bold, foolish, and lavish "waste" of time with the one who
delights in our very being. The woman anxiously filing her fingernails
behind me during the previews finally stopped once the movie
began, and I doubt she was thinking of her fingernails afterwards
except perhaps in gratitude for their divinely-sustained imperfection.
For a breathtaking preview, more information, and a local screening
schedule, go to www.zeitgeistfilms.com.
"Into
Great Silence" embodies the kind of contemplative outreach
that I'm trying to do with Mud Puddle Films. Our lavishly
four-part cycle of feature-length films, "Last Notes
red green blue or black," is an indirectly similar
attempt to offer a contemplative experience to general
audiences.
Go see "Into Great Silence." Rather, experience it. Take a nap
first. Prepare your bladder. And have a bite to eat before rather
than distract yourself and others with the activity and noise
of popcorn. Afterwards, you can talk with each other about your
favorite moments in the film, your own experience of contemplative
prayer, and the many hindrances and invitations to silence in
your life. Or better, you can arrange regular times to sit in
God's silence, alone or with each other. Take this invitation
into the great silence, and return to the silence whenever possible,
especially during this Easter season of mystery and joy.
Reviewer Fr. Dominic DeLay, O.P. is a filmmaker for
the Western Dominican Province. For more about
the province’s filmmaking mission, including its
award-winning short films and contemplative cycle of
features, Last Notes red green blue or black,
come and visit us at www.mudpuddlefilms.com.
Links
German website (in English) www.diegrossestille.de
For more information about Carthusian monks, viewers may also
be interested in Nancy Klein Maguire's book An
Infinity of Little Hours.
