Be in the Lowest Attitude with Monks’ Lives
The movie
is based on ‘the case of the murder of a French monk’which occurred in Algeria in 1996.
Muslim terrorists posed a threat to the 8 monks living in a monastery in a small town. The monks, who were self-sufficient in the town and giving various voluntary works and treatments to the poor people, came into conflicts between going back to France or staying in the town for the religious life.
I was so impressed at the scene of everyone finishing the agony unanimously. However, they got a sudden attack late at night, so everyone except for two hiding got killed by Muslim extremists.
The contents are mostly composed of the scenes of monks living frugally. Without the common background music or OST, it stirs people’s emotions well. The facial expressions and moves of the actors were so serious that it was like a documentary film. It was also filled with Gregorian sacred songs.
Personally, I cannot forget by Tchaikovsky which was resonating at the last dinner scene. At first, the monks seemed to enjoy dinner with the song with big smiles, but their eyes are getting wet with grief, as if they predicted their death.
Although the lives of the monks, trying to live with poor people regardless of religion and race with the lowest attitude, were so shabby, they were like the lights healing the body and the mind of the devastated town. This movie is certainly different from other war movies, though it covered the Algerian Civil War. It shows everything like violence and fear as they are without any exaggeration. The monks are staying under the situation of choice between life and death. However, we can see the intense agony between the God and man from the Gregorian sacred song resonating, the silent prayer, and their shaking eyes in full detail.
The monks were said to be free once they put themselves out entirely to the God. It might be because the God comes to live within them and even their bodies live on the belief. As the title implies, nobody would predict the movie being light and funny. It might be boring in some ways. However, the movie is just a tool. is a movie which would let people think a lot about a person’s noble belief regardless of being with or without religion and being the same or different. It was a movie that let me think again about life and death.
Ju-Hyun Park l.l.f@hanmail.net
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