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Essene

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Summary

Daily life in a Benedictine monastery.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Calum Baker

Frederick Wiseman documents life at a Benedictine monastery in Michigan in this quirky and subtly rewarding feature. The Essenes were an ancient Jewish sect that rejected the Temple of Jerusalem in favour of establishing their own pious community, and Wiseman rather puckishly takes their name for his study of a modern American Midwestern church that has seceded from the Anglican mainstream. Over 87 minutes, he intersperses the abbey's worship practices (prayer, sermons, hymns) with fly-on-the-wall footage of its inhabitants going about their everyday lives and outreach work. Memorable characters include Brother Wilfred, considered a difficult elder by his monastic colleagues but who shows a more avuncular side off-campus, and Brother Richard, a younger man with a love of music who struggles to control his emotions. You might get the feeling that the monastery represents a kind of refuge community for people who have become, in one way or another, outcasts from the modern world. But the film-maker's interest here goes beyond secular sociology; though his smartly edited piece highlights the petty humanity of the monks and the low-level bureaucracy of their organisation, it also demonstrates the solemnity of their beliefs. It's in this contrast, emphasised by some conspicuously artful compositions from cameraman William Brayne, that Wiseman finds the film's unique angle: a sense of profundity in the profane.

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6.8/10

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Credits

Crew

rolenameDirectorFrederick Wiseman

Details

Languages

English | Latin

Formats

Black and white

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