"FREE: Duc in Altum” A Cinematic Encounter with Contemplative Life
(This is a sponsored post, but the opinions are mine!)
FREE is a visual treat that does not talk about the contemplative life but demonstrates it through the stories of those who left the world to dedicate their lives to prayer and silence. Hearing the stories of real men and women who entered a monastery, you realize that these are not crazies, eccentrics, or fanatics. They are people who found everything by leaving everything behind.
FREE gives you a beautiful and rare glimpse into contemplation by visiting several monasteries in Spain. Yes, this movie is in Spanish with English subtitles, which is what I prefer. I want to hear their voices, the emotion in their tones, and not something dubbed over. As you learn what their lives were like prior to joining and what their lives are like now, you will not find a single name in the lower thirds. They are not doing this for fame. They desire to be unknown, except to God. There are no credits for the monks or nuns at the end of the film. I love it!
The film introduces the viewer to the contemplative life through stunning visuals. The b-roll in this film is incredible and contributes to the warm feeling throughout the movie. Monasteries are usually in naturally extreme environments: deserts, mountaintops, and forests, and these here are no different. The shots of the Spanish country around the monasteries are incredible and make you feel like God, Man, and Nature are in conversation. A musical score is used, but minimally, as the microphones more often capture the sounds of nature, of chanting hymns during the Divine Office, and of turning pages during Lectio Divina, increasing the feeling of silence.
This is my screenshot. I just wanted to capture a moment to show you the cinematic beauty.
This life is misunderstood as a life of waste or as isolating and lonely. However, this film dispels the myth by showing the contemplative life is actually the deepest connection one can have with God and others. Monastic solitude is not loneliness. What we have in the world today is loneliness, isolation, and anxiety. The monks and nuns have silence and solitude, but with the Lord, they are never lonely. Silence is not simply the absence of noise but is a state of being fully present to God. This takes years to internalize and develop.
One of my favorite quotes from the film is when a monk says, “Silence lets you listen to the things you otherwise could not.” Silence heals, transforms, and grows the soul.
“In Madrid,” one sister says, “You have only noise.” This reminds me of CS Lewis’ quote about Heaven and Hell, that in Heaven there is music and there is silence, but in Hell, there is only noise. These cloisters are Heaven on Earth, then.
The sister continued: “We are like the green spaces of Madrid.” She is referring to parks and such that cities have scattered throughout the highrises and industrial areas. “We are useless. I say it again, we are useless!” Those green spaces serve no economic purpose and have no productive value, but if you remove them the city will suffocate. These contemplatives are in the world as “unproductive”, but they provide the oxygen to sustain the rest of us.
The film also highlights the community of contemplatives. These contemplatives do not live in isolation but in a community with others in prayer and silence. Little scenes quietly and beautifully shot convey this: seeing one sister help her elderly sister down a hallway while they had a humorous conversation; another sister was chatting over tea about her trip to the hospital. It turns out she has cancer and was given 10 months to live. She told the doctor, “Thank you! Thank you for telling me I have ten months of life!” The simple and direct nature of that scene shook me. She was ready to be face-to-face with our Lord.
The one problem I had with the movie was the nuns playing basketball. CLEARLY one sister double-dribbled and no one called her on it. Although to be honest, nuns playing basketball was also my favorite part, too.
“FREE” will be in theatres ONLY on November 2nd. Head to Fathom’s website to buy tickets. Also, Catching Foxes will have an advertisement in the pre-movie commercials, so go take your selfie with that in the background and send it in!
https://www.fathomevents.com/events/FREE/
