If you get the chance to catch it, go and see the excellent film "Of Gods and Men". OK, it's in French and Arabic with English subtitles. And it's about French Trappist monks in North Africa, the relationship between the abbey and the local village and living with the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. But it is beautifully shot and acted with several stunning performances (ace turn by former Bond villain Michael Lonsdale as Monk and Doctor Luc - and the abbot is excellent too). The dinner with wine and Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" is wordless, but moving to tears (the phrase "On the night before he was given up to death" springs to mind). There is deep and brilliant theology and spirituality in there and it really is a "must see".
Sounds like a great movie. Since I first read about the Trappists in North Africa, I found the story compelling. They truly lived the Christian life and followed even to death.
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It is an utterly absorbing film - the side of the RC Church that still enthralls and attracts.
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