The title may be provocative, but this film is a masterly immersion into life at a Japanese Zen monastery over three seasons of a year. Swiss novice Sabine arrives at Antaiji, and after a brief welcome, the learning process of the monastery rules begins: how to bow, how to sit in the meditation hall on the cushion in front of the empty wall, how to carry out the individual movements with the chopsticks in connection with the three black painted wooden bowls, how to behave… There’s more to life in the monastery than meditation, farming, and maintenance—there are picnics and music, and Wi-Fi. And after the last snow has melted away, the nuns and monks travel to Osaka where they recite sutras in front of subway entrances as they solicit offerings in their traditional monk’s robes. Quotes from renowned early 20th century Antaij abbot Koda Sawaki are interjected throughout. Simple, and beautifully filmed, this is Into Great Silence meets Enlightenment Guaranteed, with Fred Frith, composer, performing the eclectic and elegant score.