Broken Silence

Panzer's story is strange in a beautiful way. A monk who falls in love with a young black girl is really unusual. But I had no problems to accept his characters. There is a real development in the relationship of the two. Something that I miss in the most (especially Hollywood) movies.

...ever. Shot on an extremely low budget on the then top notch amateur high8 standard ( so as to avoid official shooting licenses -including official government supervsion) it is one of the heartfelt most brilliant movies of it's time.

The guidance of actors, locations and circumstances is so subtle it should claim a marking stone in tolerance as a global work of art. No less....

If this movie were available, I am sure that it would be far more popular. It is a quite wonderful movie with a story unlike any other I have seen. A monk who has been cloistered most of his life, living in silence, must fly from France to Indonesia to get a signature to renew the property lease for his monastery. The poor fellow is quite unfamiliar with modern ways and to make matters worse, he develops claustrophobia on the plane and exits at its first stop - in India. His seat-mate, a savvy young black woman from New York, becomes his traveling companion. Yes, it is a road movie, but not a run of the mill road movie. This is a movie about decent people trying to do the decent thing in trying circumstances. The performances are wonderful, the scenery exotic, and the story full of emotional nuance as we watch two very different people learn to appreciate each other. I watched this in Austria - a friend had a videotape. To date, I have been unable to find this available on DVD. A shame, because it deserves wider recognition.

It's a road movie without being a road movie. It's a movie about reflection an truth withuot being moralic. Maybe "the staight story" is somewhat similar to this movie. Interesting is the fact that they had to conceil the camera as they would not have gotten the rights to turn a movie everywhere. It may be hard to get a copy as even in Europe the movie is sold out. But who knows with the more an more availyble online streaming services, maybe the movie will become again available. If you like slow movies try to grab it!