Three hours of silence in new film

A three-hour, near-silent documentary set in a monastery will be released in the UK in December - surely a safe bet for some contemplation and respite from Christmas crowds. Into Great Silence is an intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks, set high in the French Alps.

The film, directed by Philip Groning and shot during his four-month stay at the monastery, shows the repeated routines of the monks, including scenes of the men in their starchy habits reciting Gregorian verse by candlelight.

Groning first requested to film in the monastery 17 years go, and found a world largely unchanged since the founding of the Carthusian Order ten centuries ago.

The Carthusian order was set up by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and is considered to be the Catholic Church's strictest order. Since its founding, this order of hermits has been located in the mountains near Grenoble.

Into Great Silence has already been raptuously received by packed audiences in Germany.