FILMS/
THE MONASTERY
Documentaries
Denmark, 2006, 84 minutes
SHOWTIMES
Thu, May 3 / 04:30 / Kabuki / MONA03K
Fri, May 4 / 07:00 / Kabuki / MONA04K
Sun, May 6 / 01:00 / Kabuki / MONA06K
CREDITS
- prod
-
Sigrid Helene Dyekjær
- scr
-
Jens Arentzen, Per K. Kirkegaard, Pernille Rose Grønkjær
- cam
-
Pernille Rose Grønkjær
- editor
-
Pernille Bech Christensen
- mus
-
Johan Söderqvist
- source
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The Danish Film Institute, Gothersgade 55, DK-1123 Copenhagen, Denmark FAX: +45-3374-3445 EMAIL: kurstein@dfi.dk
In practiced solitude, with only his countless books as company, 86-year-old former parish priest and university librarian Jorgen Laursen Vig presides over the dilapidated country estate he bought decades ago. Never married and stoically self-sufficient, Vig has little human contact beyond the handful of folks who live on or near the grounds of his rundown Hesbjerg Castle. But change is in the air after he approaches the Russian patriarchate with the idea of turning the place into a Russian Orthodox monastery. The church dispatches a small team, headed by a certain Sister Amvrosija, to assess the property and set the process of conversion in motion. Vig likely expected a prayerful shrinking violet or a rose-cheeked novice effusive with gratitude, but Sister Amvrosija is a pragmatic and determined woman. When she returns several months later to stay, a polite but bracing battle of wills ensues. Vig and the nun negotiate and squabble, with Sister Amvrosija gently but persistently edging her way into his carefully controlled life. Peppered with moments of unexpected hilarity, The Monastery plays at times like a pilot for a droll Scandinavian sitcom. Ultimately, though, director Pernille Rose Grønkjær has crafted a compassionate study in transformation and letting go, and in faith and its side effects. Grønkjær, who shot the film herself over a five-year span, deservedly received the Joris Ivens Award at the top-drawer International Documentary Festival (IDFA) in Amsterdam. A deeply satisfying work of uncommon intimacy and grace, it leaves us pondering which is the better measure of our time on earth—how we live or what we leave behind.
—Michael Fox
West Coast Premiere. In Danish, English and Russian with English subtitles. This film is competing for a Golden Gate Award. Sponsored by KQED Public Broadcasting.