for all current dates and places see screenings and then different countries. theatrical release in germany was on septembre 28, 2005. the dvd monte grande with the film in six languages and with additional interviews and info is now available!


advance showing in france was in paris at june 19, 2004, 6:00 pm at amphitheatre richelieu, university paris-sorbonne, connected to the conference: "from autopoiesis to neuro-
phenomenology: a tribut to francisco varela". for the first comments scroll right > for further info see press

sorbonne 19th of june 2004
  marcel, amy, franz comments after the first screening at sorbonne


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Franz, you have done an extraordinary work (and this is not the first one - "The Knowledge of Healing" is too). The way you work with fine detail, in images and words, in order to transmit in a subtle and profound way the huge oceans of emotion and thought that you were dealing with makes what looks like an impossibility blossom before our eyes into whole worlds of possibility. All the people I have spoken to loved the film, family, friends, scientists, nonscientists... everyone. So it's my turn to thank you!
Amy Cohen Varela

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francisco varela was a master of synthesis. admired, controversial, and endowed with the intoxicating passion of an exceptionally gifted researcher. he was highly instrumental in shaping modern systems theory as well as cognitive science. he was a friend of the dalai lama and an unorthodox inspirer on the international scientific scene. in franz reichle’s film – the documentary account of a man’s life in the face of imminent death – one gets to know francisco varela in a way that i would not have believed possible. this is the story of a man that is told affectionately and gently, touchingly and astutely. varela spent his life building bridges: between western science and eastern wisdom, neurobiology and philosophy, abstract theory and practical life. this film succeeds – if only for 80 delightful minutes – in deconstructing the prevailing division between science and art.
bernhard pörksen
is professor of journalism and communication science at the university of hamburg. he has written books in collaboration with heinz von foerster (“understanding systems”) and humberto maturana (“from being to doing”).


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A  beautiful, moving, subtle and heartfelt movie on the life of a remarkable being. Francisco Varela was not only one of the most eminent neuroscientists of our times, but also a pioneer in fathoming the nature of consciousness and a visionary who created a bridge between modern scientists and buddhist practitioner experts in training the mind.
Matthieu Ricard
Ph.D., author, Buddhist monk at Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu and French interpreter since 1989 for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.


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franz reichle begins this cinematic portrait of francisco varela with schroedinger's famous question, what is life? this question also preoccupied varela as a scientist, but reichle subtly and surely transforms it into another, far more compelling concern, namely, what is a life? the film follows varela through his many achievements, but it achieves its mission most powerfully with varela's rapprochement with death. here, in this journey, varela finds the meaning of his life as a man, and reichle finds his film. a powerful and beautiful achievement.
evelyn fox keller
professor of history and philosophy of science at M.I.T.


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A work of extreme clarity. Respect. Presence. Listening. I am surprised by the delicate touch of the camera, I am comforted by the silence of his eye. "Monte Grande - What is Life?" gives itself as a true open question.
Diego Cosmelli
Ph.D., chilean. His interests are the study of human experience and its relation to biological organization.


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Le documentaire "Monte Grande" est fort et aimant à l'image de ces mains qui pétrissent la pâte des "empenadas" dont la fabrication rythme le film. Franz Reichle nous fait partager son amour du travail bien fait : beauté des gestes et des regards ; même concentration dans les gestes simples de la ferme natale que dans le laboratoire ou les sém inaires de Francisco Varela, biologiste chilien, dont nous suivrons le parcours.
Une enfance heureuse à Monte Grande (Chili), un diplômé poupin, un chercheur passionné, un homme émacié. Le film nous montre, parfois avec une impudeur très maîtrisée, la vie d'un chercheur passionné par son métier et déclinée dans son environnement familial et professionnel, un homme à l'esprit toujours en éveil et qui a consacré sa vie à chercher des réponses à la question "Qu'est-ce que la vie ?". A aucun moment F. Reichle n'intervient. Aucune introduction, aucune voix off, aucune précision, aucune remarque sur la notoriété dont on sent pourtant qu'elle fût grande. Rien n'est dit, appuyé. Tout est suggéré.
Que dire de ces magnifiques plans-séquences où père, amis, enfants, maîtres, collègues, étudiants et ses femmes racontent Francisco Varela ? Aucun d'eux ne nous prendra à témoin. Chacun parle d'un passé lointain et amusant ou excessivement proche et douloureux, le regard tourné vers l'intérieur et il s'en dégage une très grande paix.
Francisco lui-même est longuement filmé, le visage dévoré par un regard déjà ailleurs , il nous dit dans un grand éclat de rire qu'il recherche toujours la sagesse, une immense sérénité due à une longue pratique de la méditation et à ses relations privilégiées avec le Dalai-Lama émane de lui. De longs plans fixes nous permettent de parcourir les rayons de sa bibliothèque pleine d'ouvrages que nous ne saurions lire, mais où la présence du "Robert" en première rangée nous rassure, nous, les amateurs éclairés, qui ne saisissons qu'à-demi un discours dont la teneur nous échappe mais dont nous comprenons la passion qui l'anime.
Marie-Jo Lecuyer
Elle travaille dans les laboratoires de recherche de l'Ecole Polytechnique depuis 1969. Des Mathematiques pures aux lasers de puissance, son parcours l'a amenée aux Sciences Cognitives . Elle est actuellement Administrateur du CREA (Centre de Recherche en Epistémologie Appliquée, Paris).