Gröning proposed the idea for the film to the monks in 1984, but the Carthusians said they wanted time to think about it. They responded to him 16 years later to say they were willing to permit him to shoot the movie if he was still interested.
[Image ID: Post from Slippy (@/ damnSlippy.slippy.me) reading: Sincerely delighted to discover, 45 minutes into this nearly-wordless three-hour documentary about French monks who take vows of silence, is that among the reasons they *can* talk is “to make sure they monastery cats know when it’s mealtime by making little kitty-calling noises at them.” /End ID]
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