Broken Silence - The End of Silence - DVD

Film: The Carthusian monk Fried (Martin Huber) has lived for 25 years according to the strict rules of his order. Except for when praying together, there is a strict vow of silence, which Fried is now allowed to break for the first time. For when his monastery's lease expires, Fried is tasked with going to the building's old owner and having her sign the necessary papers to renew the contract. The problem with this is that Fried has to go to Indonesia to do it. His journey is further complicated by the fact that the monk suffers from extreme fear of flying and therefore leaves the plane in a hurry already in India, losing his wallet in the process. Together with his seatmate, New York tourist Ashaela (Ameenah Kaplan), Fried embarks on an adventurous journey to Indonesia, where a bond develops between the disparate people that seems to transcend all boundaries, revealing to Fried a whole new perspective on his own life.

Broken Silence was a genuine surprise success in 1996. Shot on video with a mini-crew of just five people, equipment spread across eight suitcases, no set script and a very low budget, the film managed to rise from a minor insider tip to an absolute crowd-pleaser. Over 135,000 visitors and several awards speak for themselves. The story of the Carthusian monk who is firmly attached to his faith and the young black woman who, on the threshold of death, sees no sense in a belief in God, is told in such a wonderfully charming and unobtrusive way that one very quickly forgets the somewhat unusual video look. With the simplest of means, director Wolfgang Panzer manages to make you as a viewer lose yourself in the images and the long conversations between Fried and Ashaela.

The content of these conversations also makes you think again and again, without wanting to impose a certain position on the viewer. The most beautiful thing, however, is that Panzer tells his story with a quiet sense of humour and refrains from any form of kitsch even in the more touching moments. The film always feels authentic and not too concerned with originality. Certainly, the whole thing already defied the usual viewing habits in 1996 and in 2012 you have to get involved with the story and the production even more clearly. But if you manage to do so, you will be rewarded with a quite enchanting film that is well worth (re)discovering even after all these years!

Picture + Sound: The fact that the film was shot on video with the simplest means sixteen years ago is naturally reflected in the picture quality of the DVD. Blurs and smudges, meager contrasts make up the overall rather washed out picture. This is not particularly positive, but contributes to the authentic character of the film. In terms of sound, it is noticeable that the German soundtrack sounds quite flat, while the English track seems much more lively and natural.

Extras: As a bonus there is a highly interesting interview with the director, who tells for just under an hour everything about the unusual shooting and reveals, for example, why he only got a shooting permit for a documentary in India or why he had decided to shoot the film on video. Absolutely worth seeing!

Conclusion: Broken Silence is a likeable little film, which could quite rightly advance to a real surprise success at its theatrical release in 1996 and enjoys great popularity to this day. The DVD is technically rather poorly implemented, but the purchase is worth it because of the charming main film and the interesting interview, which can be found as a bonus on the disc. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp