Some IMDb reviews complain this movie is slow. They are right, but fail to understand that the slowness is in the service of the story. These are men that choose to lead a life of routine and work and service. They choose a life in which each day follows the previous, and meaning comes from curing wounds in small children and selling honey in the local market so they can heal more wounds tomorrow.
Some reviewers say nothing really happens in this movie. Apart for a bunch of murders and the monks' bravery and despair, they are right. The monks seem passive. They foolishly choose to die rather than flee. They surrender their lives to the will of the God they believe in and the love of the community they have served for a hundred years. Is that dumb?
Was that the right thing to do? What purpose did their sacrifice serve? What if they had fled? What would the rest of their lives been like?
I love it when a movie makes me truly think. This one did.
Some reviewers say nothing really happens in this movie. Apart for a bunch of murders and the monks' bravery and despair, they are right. The monks seem passive. They foolishly choose to die rather than flee. They surrender their lives to the will of the God they believe in and the love of the community they have served for a hundred years. Is that dumb?
Was that the right thing to do? What purpose did their sacrifice serve? What if they had fled? What would the rest of their lives been like?
I love it when a movie makes me truly think. This one did.