This weekend I went back to see INTO GREAT SILENCE a second time at the one venue it is currently playing, NYC’s Film Forum Theater.
I went with my 12-year-old daughter Sarah, who watched Papa’s two-minute plug for the film on EWTN’s "Life on the Rock" this past Thursday, and wanted to see it.
The screening was sold out.
Luckily I had bought tickets online, or we wouldn’t have got in. After an hour getting to the theater, turning around and going home would have been no fun. There weren’t two seats to be had together; I had to ask another patron if he would change seats so that I could sit with Sarah. (She loved the film, BTW.)
Apparently, that sold-out screening was indicative of a strong opening weekend; a contact at Zeitgeist tells me the film did very well in NYC (I don’t have numbers yet). So, this is good news for all of you who are hoping that the film will come to a theater near you, since art-house theater owners look to the NY opening of a film like this when deciding whether to book the film.
A number of readers have asked what they can do if the movie isn’t currently scheduled to play near them. Answer: Contact your local art-house/alternative theater owner(s) and ask them to book the film! The more interested patrons theater owners hear from, the more likely they are to book the film. And if it does come anywhere near you, make sure people who would enjoy it know about it.
Of course if you truly live in the sticks where there isn’t an art-house theater for three hours, you’re probably out of luck, but then you already knew that anyway.
P.S. Chicago-area readers: Note that the Music Box Theatre has moved up the film’s week-long run by a week, from a start date of April 6 to a start date of March 30!
WHERE AND WHEN (slightly updated!)
Awesome. Thanks for reporting this Jimmy, I’ll be there at the Music Box.
Thanks for reporting this Jimmy
SDG,
Are you really ‘Jimmy’ now? ;^)
What happened to the real ‘Jimmy’?
Ahh. Sorry, SDG. CHT to Esau for the correction. 😉
I’d better go and order some tickets. Thanks for the warning.
Ahh. Sorry, SDG. CHT to Esau for the correction. 😉
Don’t sweat it, JV!
Some had done the same with Tim J.’s posts.
Although, I’d still be interested in knowing what’s happening with the ‘real’ Jimmy.
Hope he’s all right.
E St Theater in DC is now saying March 30, not March 23.
The german-frech editions came out a long time ago. The USA is behind. I think they came out already. The only diffrence might be the subtitles, though most of the literate world could understand the subtitles in french-german. I got it and I don’t speak french or german. And since it is not showing in many places, you might as well get the video in fr-ger.
Their website has some clips. Good stuff.
A proof that when an order is faithful to their founder and not to the world, they conserve and perfect the order, and they have vocations.
Habits, silence and their other near milleniumary traditions recieves the blessings from God.
(place close attenion to the procession with the Blessed Sacrament, it is very beutiful, a tradition that the US should adopt.)
I’m a University chaplain in Birmingham, UK, and took students to both the showings in the city – it was only on twice and was sold out on both days with people queuing for returned tickets. The students were fascinated. I found myself wondering after 10 minutes how I’d survive another two and a half hours, and then getting so absorbed that time flew. The cyclical nature of life and the repetition are so important, as is the length. I recommend it to all.
SDG,
Do the monks use the pre vatican II liturgy that is part of their order, in the film?Also does the film make clear if they chant the Divine Office?
God bless you
Thanks for the info, Steve. After I heard you speak about this film on Catholic Answers, I have to go see it. I live in NYC and it’s here until March 13th. Now I know I have to go buy tickets in advance. Thanks again.
I checked the weekend data from boxofficemojo.com. Into Great Silence took in $11,355 from its single theater. While not a lot, only one other movie on the chart had a better per screen average – Wild Hogs ($12,077 per theater), which was in more than 3,200 theaters, and came in first overall for the weekend.
Link to chart
I FINALLY found the DVD of the KAROL Movies that Pope Benedict XVI below viewed with great admiration.
It come with BOTH Movies (U.S. $21.13):
I. Karol: A Man Who Became Pope
II. Karol: The Pope, The Man
(aka “Karol: A Pope Who Remained Man”)
Although it’s a CANADIAN Catholic Store, the DVD is, of course, playable for U.S. DVD Players AND shipping time is not too bad!
Karol: Two-Part Mini-Series DVD
Pope Is Touched by Film on John Paul II
Benedict XVI and 6,000 Others View Work
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 31, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Neither Benedict XVI nor the 6,000 people who attended the preview of a made-for-TV movie, “Karol: A Pope Who Remained Man” were able to contain their emotion.
“Horrified as if we were present, we relived the shots of the tragic attempt on his life in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981,” said Benedict XVI in an address he gave Thursday after the public’s eight-minute applause for the film.
The film, based on a script by journalist Gian Franco Svidercoschi, was directed by Giacomo Battiato. Polish actor Piotr Adamczyk plays the role of Karol Wojtyla. The Italian Studios Taodue and Mediaset undertook the production.
The three-hour segment shown in Paul VI Hall was the second part of a two-part work. The first part was “Karol: A Man Who Became Pope.”
It begins with Cardinal Wojtyla’s election as Bishop of Rome and covers the events of his pontificate, the third longest in history. It will be broadcast on television in two parts.
After viewing the film, Benedict XVI said: “Once again we heard the opening appeal of his pontificate, which sounded out so often through the years: ‘Open the doors to Christ! Do not be afraid!’
“The ensuing images showed us a Pope immersed in contact with God and, for this very reason, ever sensitive to the expectations of mankind.”
Benedict XVI continued: “The film caused us to reconsider his apostolic journeys all over the world; it gave us the opportunity to relive his meetings with so many people, with the great ones of the earth and with ordinary citizens, with illustrious figures and with unknown individuals.
“Among all these, special mention should be made of his embrace with Mother Teresa of Calcutta, united to John Paul II by an intimate spiritual harmony.”
Tireless prophet
In this film Benedict XVI said one could see “the figure of a tireless prophet of hope and peace, who traveled the roads of the earth to communicate the Gospel to everyone.”
The Holy Father added: “His vibrant words returned to our minds, condemning totalitarian regimes, murderous violence and war; words full of consolation and hope expressing his closeness to the relatives of victims of conflict and dramatic terrorist attacks, such as that against the twin towers in New York; courageous words of denunciation against a consumer society and hedonistic culture which aims to create a purely material well-being that cannot satisfy the profound needs of the human heart.”
“May our beloved Pope accompany us from on high and obtain for us from the Lord the grace to be always faithful, like him, to our mission,” Benedict XVI concluded.