Vaya con Dios (2002)

Who payed the critics

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

"Vaya con Dios" is a German movie from 2002 (so it has its 15th anniversary this year) that runs for 105 minutes approximately and was written and directed by Zoltan Spirandelli. This is probably his most known work as of this day and a lot of that also has to do with the fact that the lead actor here is Daniel Brühl, maybe Germany's biggest star in Hollywood right now (if who don't count Austrian 2-time Oscar winner Chrostoph Waltz). He was still in his early/mid 20s back then, but it was an amazing year for Brühl career-wise, perhaps even his best. However, this does not mean we have a great film here admittedly. But this should be no surprise looking at Spirandelli's other work to be honest. it may sound interesting and the execution may not always be disappointing, but as a whole I don't think the premise was elaborated on in a way where I would say this is actually a quality movie. The focus is on a trio of monks on their way to Italy where they are trying to find a new monastery that they can pay for financially. This is mostly comedy with occasional romance as well. First cast here is Michael Gwisdek and in my opinion he does nothing to justify this fact. The film is clearly much more about Brühl's character, but then again I am not a great Gwisdek fan at all and always found him very overrated. the story has a decent moment here and there, but I still felt that there are a handful of lengths and this film may have worked better without lots of the unimportant stuff with a runtime of 80 minutes perhaps. Brühl does what he can, but eventually the only thing remarkable/memorable about him is probably his haircut. Visually, with sets and costumes, the film is okay. This is probably also the strongest area, but not because it is any kind of great, but because the rest is entirely forgettable. This is nowhere near the level of the new Scorsese film about two monks ("Silence"). That's the one you want to check out. This one here is the one you want to skip.

The movie is very nice. I had noted Daniel Bruhl before and I think he is a wonderful German actor. I saw him firstly in "Joyeux Noel", another good movie.The scenery from the movie is beautiful. The acting of the main four actors is more than good. The human nature, with ups and downs is well presented in this film. It is a film about the special relation between people and God and the relations among the people. The trip of the three monks, forced to leave their peculiar unique monastery from Germany, broken, belonging to an order excommunicated centuries ago by a pope, to the sister monastery from Italy, the last one of their order of "cantors" is both a material and a spiritual trip. The play of the principal actors is sometime funny and sometime very touching like the three monk group itself. Although they are so different one from each other, Benno is the erudite guy, the intellectual type, Tasillo is the natural while Arbo, interpreted by Daniel Bruhl is the young of the group, the artist, they are united in their love for God and for the music, the milestone of their order. The Gregorian chants, which I always loved, are superb, both as plays and as interpretation.Once escaped in the real world Arbo would fell in love with Chiara, the sharp journalist. The three monks and the journalist will have a lot of adventures. At the end Arbo chose Chiara and the real world.The character Chiara interpreted by Chiara Schoras is both brilliant and very sexy.

The obviously very low-budget production describes the adventures of three monks of an imaginary, extremely musical order, who, after having to close down their small monastery in the north of Germany for lack of funds and people, are picking their way south towards the only other branch of the order left. On the way they have to cope with the modern world quite strange to them, as well as with their own back stories and desires (thus the tagline 'and lead us into temptation'). They get mixed up in church politics and make the acquaintance of a charming and crafty young journalist, a romantic yet disturbing meeting both for her an for the youngest monk. Somehow they manage to sing many a beautiful medieval or renaissance hymn on the way, and in the end it is the mysticism of their music that carries them through. The cast does an excellent job in portraying the quaint protagonists, the locations have been chosen lovingly and fit right into the story, and the whole cinematography is very solid work. If you have the chance to see this rather obscure gem, go ahead and have a treat.

The quality of this film is mainly based on three columns: The good performance of the actors, a simple, but entertaining story and the brilliant film music.It is the music maybe, that raises this movie into the rink of high quality films. Even if you dislike gregorian choral singing(like me), you will love them after having watched this movie. The scenes where the monks chorus are outstanding and overwhelming.Conclusion: Do not only watch, but listen to this movie.