Educational Media Reviews Online

Cluny: A Light in the Night provides an introduction and broad overview of the socio-economic, architectural, political, and religious aspects and influences of the Benedictine abbey of Cluny during the Middle Ages. The Cluny Abbey, located in the Bourgogne region of France, centralized the Benedictine Order. At its zenith it had about 1,400 priories under its control, and answered to no one but the pope. The film follows the abbey from creation through its height of power and influence to its decline. The scope of coverage is rather ambitious for the running time of the film, and unfortunately, no one aspect is covered in any depth or detail.

The audio narration information is simple and straightforward; the visual narration is a combination of medieval prints and tapestries, actors in period costume, museum and on-site footage, as well as a computer-reconstructed image of Cluny Abbey.

Using these techniques, the film is informative and factual, but lacks any analysis or commentary. There are attempts to suggest links between the advances and influence of medieval Cluny with practices carried on in the twentieth century. However, these connections are not consistent, and at times lack sufficient explanation. For example, in linking agricultural advances, we see a picture of Piers Plowman, then a clip of a John Deere tractor plowing a field. The narrator fails to explain any of the Cluny agricultural advances, but instead, we are left to assume that the monks had something to do with the plow. A brief explanation about the monks' contributions in the areas of field preparation and farm economy would have improved the image.

A particularly interesting scene is the computer-reconstructed image of Cluny Abbey. After seeing the present day ruins, the viewer is then taken on a virtual reality tour of medieval Cluny. Through computer animation, we are able to see and experience the look, the sound, and the feeling of the being in the romanesque church.

The videography and sound quality are adequate. However, the filmmaker relies on many of the similar images and same phrases in narration. This audio and visual repetition slows down the film. Cluny was originally created in French, which is available with English subtitles. The English version still has its credits in French.

Cluny: A Light in the Night, provides a decent introduction to the medieval abbey, and is recommended for high school or undergraduate students in introductory classes on medieval history.