Silent Light
| Silent Light | |
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French theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Carlos Reygadas |
| Produced by | Carlos Reygadas Jaime Romandia |
| Written by | Carlos Reygadas |
| Starring |
Elizabeth Fehr |
| Cinematography | Alexis Zabe |
| Edited by | Natalia López |
| Distributed by |
Palisades Tartan NDMantarraya |
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Release date
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Running time
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127 minutes |
| Country | Mexico France Netherlands Germany |
| Language | Low German |
Elizabeth Fehr
Jacobo Klassen
Maria Pankratz
Miriam Toews
Cornelio Wall
Silent Light (Plautdietsch: Stellet Licht; Spanish: Luz silenciosa) is a 2007 film written and directed by Carlos Reygadas. Filmed in a Mennonite colony close to Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua State, Northern Mexico, Silent Light tells the story of a Mennonite married man who falls in love with another woman, threatening his place in the conservative community. The dialogue is in Plautdietsch, the Low German dialect of the Mennonites. The film was selected as the Mexican entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 80th Academy Awards, but it did not make the shortlist. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 24th Independent Spirit Awards. It gained nine nominations, including all major categories, in the Ariel Awards, the Mexican national awards.
Martin Scorsese described the work as "A surprising picture and a very moving one as well." It was awarded the Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.
Silent Light begins with a long tracking shot of the sun rising over a beautiful plain. The protagonist Johan, his wife Esther, and their children sit silently saying grace, after which each member of Johan's family departs from their home except for him. Once he is alone, he stops the clock on the wall and breaks down crying. Johan goes to work and discusses with a colleague that he is having an affair with a single woman by the name of Marianne; he makes it clear that his wife knows about the affair. Johan leaves work to meet Marianne in a field, and they begin to kiss. In the next scene, Johan's children are bathing and playing along a riverbank while he and his wife watch. They call one of their children over to bathe her, and as they are doing so, Esther begins to cry.
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