Silent Friend

Tony Leung Chiu-wai stars in the new film by Golden Bear-winning director Ildikó Enyedi.

A majestic ginkgo tree serves as a silent witness on a German University campus as a triptych of seemingly unrelated stories unfold. The first one takes place in 1908 as the university’s first female student discovers, through the lens of photography, sacred patterns of the universe hidden within the humblest of plants. While in 1972, a young student is profoundly changed by the simple act of observing and connecting with a geranium. In 2020 as COVID shut the world down, a neuroscientist from Hong Kong (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) begins an unexpected experiment with the old tree. Stretched across time, these three protagonists slowly tune into the language of nature and find connection far beyond their understanding.

Curator’s note
Tony Leung Chiu-wai, making his first foray into European cinema, delivers a nuanced performance as the introverted neuroscientist stuck on a deserted campus during the early stages of the COVID pandemic. The film finds its emotional centre in the profound friendship he strikes up with a fellow scientist (Léa Seydoux) whose study on plant communication provides the connective tissue to the three-time spans. Director Ildikó Enyedi follows her 2017 Oscar-nominated feature On Body and Soul with a film that feels like its spiritual cousin, creating an enchanting, poetic spell about the mysteries and wonders of the natural world.