Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Kirpianuscus a monk. and the balance between virtue and sin. a medieval story. and the realities of each century. it is not easy to use, in right manner, a delicate theme like this. but The Monk is a decent example and its basic virtue is the performance of Vincent Cassel who gives to the father Ambrosio the right portrait of fight against temptations and who has its fail as result of the need to be yourself. a film about solitude and mission, it is one of films who preserves the flavor of a fascinating period , talking, with delicacy, about ours. and this fact does the film interesting. seductive. strange. because it is only the chronicle of an war who has the virtue to be not only the war against himself of a man of Church. it is a film about choices. who are more than choices of a monk. and, more important, it is a bridge to a manner to discover and assume reality who could not be reduced at a sketch of a past page from history.

SnoopyStyle In December 1595, a baby is left at the Capuchin monastery just outside of Madrid. The monks debated and decided to raise the boy in the monastery. He would become their best orator Ambrosio (Vincent Cassel). The church is packed as his brand of strict faith inspires the congregation. Only his actions may lead him down a thorny path.Vincent Cassel has a natural intensity. This could have been a very powerful and profound movie. The story is there to put on film. But this movie has little movement. Most of the time, the characters do not move at all. It is all talk, and some of it is confoundingly slow. Other than two or three exchanges, most of the dialog could have been slash in half. The story is there. If starving a pregnant nun to death in a dungeon cell isn't compelling, then I don't know what is. The problem is everything in between. And the twist is as telegraphed as they come. This could have been a great character study as this man get more outrageous as the movie goes along. Instead, Cassel isn't allow to physically act. There is a good story but this isn't a good film. It's a promise unfulfilled.

kosmasp The movie is too predictable to really shock. The twists are telegraphed (or phoned in or emailed or whichever way you like to communicate). That doesn't make the movie bad, but it doesn't help making it great either. So while Vincent Cassel gives it all in a very complicated role and he delivers on it, the story and the way it is build up does not help him elevate the movie.Acting is good, cinematography is good too and you have a decent sound design. The themes might speak to you (depending on your world-view), which is why some even saw a masterpiece in this. And I don't blame them, if they prioritize on other points than I do. I like the themes too, but again, there are quite a few shortcomings along the way.

theghostofleifericson I don't understand the bad reviews and low ratings for this. Its the best movie I have seen in a while . Full of Gothic imagery and the wonderful acting skills of Vincent Cassel .Lots of other interesting characters and wonderful shots of the countryside of Navarra ,Spain also. I throughly enjoyed every minute of it myself. I haven't read the book so I'm not going to go into that side of it. I gave this a 9 and its rare enough I would rate a movie that high. Normally I don't bother writing reviews but I felt I had to say something here as "The Monk " is getting slated unfairly in my opinion. Don't be put off by the ratings here is all Im saying. This movie is more than worth watching.