Mon 23 Nov 8.00pm

Sallis Benney Theatre

DIRECTOR: Michael Whyte. UK 2009. 100 mins.

 

After 10 years of persistence and dedication, Michael Whyte was finally granted access to film in the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Notting Hill, home to Carmelite nuns. With echoes of INTO GREAT SILENCE, the lives of these women cut off from the chaos of the outside world, are not entirely serenely spiritual. Their work is practical and bustling with daily chores that maintain the Monastery; cooking, cleaning, gardening, making clothes and with a twist of modernity, they use the internet to order their weekly shop. Whyte’s choice to forgo voice over narration amplifies the film’s silences and background noise seems strangely loud. Aside from the hymns there is little talking, only one hour in the morning and another in the evening set aside for socializing and Whyte himself only speaks when he is spoken to and keeps a respectful distance. The film is balanced between the footage of the daily rituals and moments with individual nuns; while some admit the experience of isolation to be an immense personal challenge, there is also a great resource of humour and energy.

 Q&A: Followed by Q&A with director Michael Whyte.

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