May 19, 2026
FILM: SILENT FRIEND
DIRECTED BY: ILDIKO ENYEDI
STARRING: TONY LEUNG CHIU-WAI, LUNA WEDLER, ENZO BRUMM
RATING: 4 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
I have to admit that I needed to start this film twice. I’d watched the first fifteen minutes but my mind and body just weren’t ready for it. Yet I knew it was something special. I waited a few days to give myself completely over to it and I was exceedingly rewarded for doing so. Silent Friend is from Hungarian born filmmaker Ildiko Enyedi and stars actors from around the globe. It is this universality in the casting and creators that helps emphasize what Enyedi is going for: a deep reflection on humankind’s relationship to nature.
We’re introduced to the “silent friend” of the title quite early in the film. It is a Gingko tree on a university campus in Germany. The first major character and storyline we are presented with is that of a professor, Tony Wong, played by Tony Leung Chiu-Wai. He is a neuroscientist studying how the brains of babies compare to those of middle-aged men. His students are pretty enraptured by his lectures which are thought-provoking and visually stimulating. This sets up the meditation the film will quickly become. It is 2020 and Tony becomes one of the only people left on campus as the COVID-19 pandemic hits the world. His solitary existence changes his research as he becomes fascinated with the life of the Gingko tree outside his building’s window.
Enyedi’s story then transitions to the early 20th Century when a young woman named Grete (Luna Wedler) is being questioned by male professors at the same university. She’s the only female they have ever admitted as a student. Her interest is in plants and later photography. We watch her brave her way through the male-dominated society to expand her knowledge, career, and understanding of nature.
A third storyline follows college student Hannes (Enzo Brumm) at the university around 1970. He is initially out of place dressed in a suit while everyone else has latched onto casual hippie garb. Hannes is at times visually dwarfed and overpowered by the nature around him too. One of his classmates, Gundula, is also studying plants and in particular trying to understand, through an electronic hook-up, how her geranium sees and interacts with humans. When Hannes is left to care for the plant he becomes fascinated by what is being communicated on a then modern print out machine which produces lines that look like those formed by a lie detector test.
The three characters and stories all explore similar ideas and fascinations. They’re each trying to understand how plants and trees think. The suggestion being that nature might be observing us just as we try to understand it. The film utilizes the technology available during each era, whether it be photography or computers, which illustrates and interprets its details, sounds, and energy. Part of the exploration here is communication. Are they expressing something to us? In the case of Hannes in 1970, there is a pretty major relationship that is established involving a gate which suggests a major mutual understanding. (I won’t spoil it by revealing those details here though.) This parallels Tony’s interactions with a maintenance man on campus who eyes what he is doing suspiciously. Once Tony is able to use a phone app to translate their respective languages, their communication and ability to bond and understand each other is greatly enhanced.
In addition, Enyedi emphasizes in each of these stories the importance and power of light and water. Whether it be for photographing nature’s images or feeding plants when the sun isn’t beating down on them, there is a mutual relationship that exists with nature that we all benefit from by patiently studying it.
She also explores the changing role of women throughout academic history as the barely wanted Grete becomes a photographer’s apprentice, Hannes’s friend Gundula uncovers some basic communication between humans and plants, and Tony consults a respected researcher, played by Lea Seydoux, to learn about the latest advancements in the study of trees and plants.
Each of these stories has an arc with conflicts usually resulting from people who don’t understand the commitment of the primary characters who are trying to explore nature at a much deeper and technologically advanced manner than ever in our history.
The excellent camera work changes based on the era being presented (16mm, 35mm, and digital) and all of it is just as stunning as nature seems miraculous. Often we see our world from the point of view of trees, leaves, and plants suggesting they each do have a perspective.
Ultimately it is the Gingko and other plants that outlive us. The film suggests that while they may be effected by us they continue on their own journeys which may be far less silent than we might have thought.
This is a beautiful film for people who want to feel the connection we have with nature on a deeper and more reflective level.
Silent Friend is currently playing in limited theatrical release. It opens Friday, May 22nd at the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago.
FILM: SILENT FRIEND
DIRECTED BY: ILDIKO ENYEDI
STARRING: TONY LEUNG CHIU-WAI, LUNA WEDLER, ENZO BRUMM
RATING: 4 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
I have to admit that I needed to start this film twice. I’d watched the first fifteen minutes but my mind and body just weren’t ready for it. Yet I knew it was something special. I waited a few days to give myself completely over to it and I was exceedingly rewarded for doing so. Silent Friend is from Hungarian born filmmaker Ildiko Enyedi and stars actors from around the globe. It is this universality in the casting and creators that helps emphasize what Enyedi is going for: a deep reflection on humankind’s relationship to nature.
We’re introduced to the “silent friend” of the title quite early in the film. It is a Gingko tree on a university campus in Germany. The first major character and storyline we are presented with is that of a professor, Tony Wong, played by Tony Leung Chiu-Wai. He is a neuroscientist studying how the brains of babies compare to those of middle-aged men. His students are pretty enraptured by his lectures which are thought-provoking and visually stimulating. This sets up the meditation the film will quickly become. It is 2020 and Tony becomes one of the only people left on campus as the COVID-19 pandemic hits the world. His solitary existence changes his research as he becomes fascinated with the life of the Gingko tree outside his building’s window.
Enyedi’s story then transitions to the early 20th Century when a young woman named Grete (Luna Wedler) is being questioned by male professors at the same university. She’s the only female they have ever admitted as a student. Her interest is in plants and later photography. We watch her brave her way through the male-dominated society to expand her knowledge, career, and understanding of nature.
A third storyline follows college student Hannes (Enzo Brumm) at the university around 1970. He is initially out of place dressed in a suit while everyone else has latched onto casual hippie garb. Hannes is at times visually dwarfed and overpowered by the nature around him too. One of his classmates, Gundula, is also studying plants and in particular trying to understand, through an electronic hook-up, how her geranium sees and interacts with humans. When Hannes is left to care for the plant he becomes fascinated by what is being communicated on a then modern print out machine which produces lines that look like those formed by a lie detector test.
The three characters and stories all explore similar ideas and fascinations. They’re each trying to understand how plants and trees think. The suggestion being that nature might be observing us just as we try to understand it. The film utilizes the technology available during each era, whether it be photography or computers, which illustrates and interprets its details, sounds, and energy. Part of the exploration here is communication. Are they expressing something to us? In the case of Hannes in 1970, there is a pretty major relationship that is established involving a gate which suggests a major mutual understanding. (I won’t spoil it by revealing those details here though.) This parallels Tony’s interactions with a maintenance man on campus who eyes what he is doing suspiciously. Once Tony is able to use a phone app to translate their respective languages, their communication and ability to bond and understand each other is greatly enhanced.
In addition, Enyedi emphasizes in each of these stories the importance and power of light and water. Whether it be for photographing nature’s images or feeding plants when the sun isn’t beating down on them, there is a mutual relationship that exists with nature that we all benefit from by patiently studying it.
She also explores the changing role of women throughout academic history as the barely wanted Grete becomes a photographer’s apprentice, Hannes’s friend Gundula uncovers some basic communication between humans and plants, and Tony consults a respected researcher, played by Lea Seydoux, to learn about the latest advancements in the study of trees and plants.
Each of these stories has an arc with conflicts usually resulting from people who don’t understand the commitment of the primary characters who are trying to explore nature at a much deeper and technologically advanced manner than ever in our history.
The excellent camera work changes based on the era being presented (16mm, 35mm, and digital) and all of it is just as stunning as nature seems miraculous. Often we see our world from the point of view of trees, leaves, and plants suggesting they each do have a perspective.
Ultimately it is the Gingko and other plants that outlive us. The film suggests that while they may be effected by us they continue on their own journeys which may be far less silent than we might have thought.
This is a beautiful film for people who want to feel the connection we have with nature on a deeper and more reflective level.
Silent Friend is currently playing in limited theatrical release. It opens Friday, May 22nd at the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago.