Essene

MOVIE #1,721 • 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 • 06.12.24 𝙳𝙸𝚁𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙾𝚁 𝙵𝙾𝙲𝚄𝚂: 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙲𝙺 𝚆𝙸𝚂𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙽 I struggled to get a handle on this because these monks seem like they are cut from too wide a swath of life. Like the guy talking about New York City then Hiroshima almost in the same breath (see below). It's interesting because these people feel more like actors than in any of Wiseman’s subjects to date. I don't think this is an accident, but rather a revelation if not a condemnation of the ‘very religious person’ who is at least perceived to be putting on an act through their devotion. This is also about the unknowability of human beings, and I'm not so naive or reluctant to admit that this is a call to my own personhood, my own place in the world, be it spiritual or corporeal (or rather my perception of how they intertwine, which is complicated and ever-changing, as I assume it is for most folks).

What does it mean for a monk to casually kill a fly? Wiseman's genius is that he can ask a question like that without words and without caring about the answer. I think this is the difference between what he does and true cinéma vérité: he IS crafting a narrative, and not just presenting a document of moments. And even though he may not take a side, his voice shines through, however subtlety.

By the time a hymnal is sung to the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar, I had to fill the gaps about what this monastery’s deal was. So, some background (that Wiseman purposely leaves out): “The result of Wiseman's time in the monastery near Three Rivers, Mich., is Essene, a documentary he named after the ascetic community of men believed to be the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls.” (Ed. Note: There’s actually very little accessible info about this doc, but I thought this review from a random Salt Lake City area news org was a good read.)

I don't see my need to further research as a flaw of the film or filmmaker. I think it's good that he inspires curiosity. I don't need to Google what a hospital is or what a police department does. Those are universally understood constructs (albeit ones that still come with their own weighty biases and opinions). My respect for Wiseman has only grown through this production, even if it might be his most boring movie to date. His willingness to tackle any subject with the same fervor and expert eye (both in terms of what he films and where he points the camera, and how he cuts the pictures together) is commendable and encouraging. I'm convinced, now six films deep, that he's incapable of making a bad movie.

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CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ MOVIE #1,720 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #1,722 ⫸

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Daily life in a Benedictine monastery. It was released on November 13, 1972.