Sundance, day seven: Nuns R Us

A quick post, as I'm between films. So the nun movie was “The Monastery,” and it was another surprisingly engrossing documentary in this year’s strong line-up. It’s about a very old Danish man, the redoubtable Mr. Vig (above), who wants to deed his castle to the Russian Orthodox church. He writes to Moscow, they send out a delegation of nuns to check the place out, and so this often funny, ultimately moving story begins. The place is falling down, Mr. Vig is a human relic, and the head nun, Sister A, is a tough cookie who hammers out the best deal for the Church and God. In the process, we learn the depths of intelligence and lifelong loneliness in the old man, and get a sense of what he is reaching for with his gift. If that sounds sentimental, “The Monastery” is anything but – director Pernilla Rose Gronkjaer hovers around these two ornery spirits with curiosity and tact. I’m glad I met these people.