Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The acting in this movie is really good.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

In fact you don't need to be religious to appreciate this good documentary movie about daily life of the monks in the Grande Chartreuse, a monastery near Grenoble in France. Their persons, activities and attitudes are shown and described through simple but meaningful and beautiful images with total realism and not intending to pass any religious or mystic message except those which result indirectly from the images themselves. The scenes of monastic life appear intermingled with wonderful views of landscape around the monastery in a counterpoint which underlines the communion between Nature and the monks' deep belief in God with whom they believe to be in permanent contact, in an atmosphere of full austerity and complete renunciation to corporeal and material goods. The movie's director had to wait for 17 years the grant of permission to make it but it was worth waiting. It's a splendid and true documentary indeed, filmed with great honesty and based almost exclusively upon meaningful images carefully chosen.

Was a former postulant monk in a Benedictine community and, while the life was not for me, have been fascinated by all things monastic ever since. Saw this advertised somewhere a couple of years ago, wrote down the title - and finally got around to getting the DVD. After the first five or ten minutes - you start wondering if the sound is broken on the TV, until it dawns on you that you are entering into The Great Silence. I was deeply moved by the brothers, old, young and in between who participated in this film. For someone who wants to get an experiential sense of monastic spirituality, in its most ancient form - this film is a wonderful opportunity. How amazing to convey so much, with almost no words. A Beautiful film.

I don't usually write reviews but this film is an exception. No storyline, no character development, no facts, and virtually no sound: This film is purged of everything, leaving only a simplicity which is as beautiful as it is tedious. This film is an empty canvas and allows the viewer to fill in the details and meanings. If the viewer doesn't do that, he's just staring at the blank canvas; if he does, he may discover something very profound.It took me three sittings to finish this film. If you are planning on watching it, clear your mind of any preoccupations and focus on the movie. The experience will probably be well worth the three hours.

Granted this is a interesting film with visually beautiful scenery of the monastery and surrounding french alps, but the lack of sound is almost deafening. This film directed towards either the devout or the extreme documentary attendee. I lasted 2 hours before I had seen enough. It's clear I'll never be a monk.Those of you considering this film, be prepared for long, again silent, takes where scenes of the monks praying or reflecting is common.I think the film would have been more successful with me had it been 110 minutes in length.On a self-conscious note: Never was eating popcorn or sipping from a water bottle louder.