‘Silent Friend’ Review: Ildikó Enyedi’s Hypnotic Saga is One of the Year’s Best Films [A] Venice
In an edition full of surprises and films that moved and provoked audiences at the Venice Film Festival, Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend is perhaps the biggest and most pleasant surprise. With this film, the Hungarian filmmaker has crafted her best film yet, a miracle in every way and one of the most hypnotic, disarmingly beautiful films of the year. An achievement on every level, but especially directorially, this is a film deserving of the highest accolades and will long be remembered regardless of its awards haul. It takes your breath away and leaves you with an indescribable feeling of joy so much that you’d find yourself wanting to enter the theatre again, just to plunge yourself in its mesmerizing world in which nature breathes with us, speaks to us, and without us knowing, changes the courses of our lives, allowing us to remember what makes us human and how, just as plants, we are all seeking a true connection.
Who would have expected a film about a tree to be this beguilingly powerful, tremendously moving and equally thought provoking? With this film, Enyedi has made the impossible possible – even when the protagonist is a plant, we can find ourselves glued to the screen, swept along for a ride that nourishes the soul, encouraging us to shut off the world and let ourselves fall under the undeniable charm of such a magnetic film in which every frame brims with such beauty and grace. It is a film that demands to be seen on the big screen, in a silent theatre where not a word is uttered, where our smiles and tears in the dark blend with the spell-binding frames as they awaken our senses, allowing us to smell, listen, feel, and above all, open our eyes to the enigmatic mysteries of nature and how unexpectedly connected it is with mankind.
Taking place across three different timelines, cinematographer Gergely Pálos brilliantly transports us back in time in 1908, 1972 and 2020. The three stories blend together and are narrated with inventive editing by Károly Szalai rather than told episodically. In each of these stories, nature and in particular a magnificent decades-old ginkgo tree, takes the center stage, with protagonists interacting with it in one way or another. But to call this an eco-film would do the film such a disservice, because while it deceptively focuses on nature, this is mainly a narrative device that allows us, as well as the characters themselves, to connect with notions and emotions of belonging, love, integration and empowerment. In every story, there is a search for a connection, a longing to be accepted and a quest for a higher purpose than mere existence. And in nature, an invisible bridge is formed between one’s desires and the long hoped-for outcome.
In the year 2020, neurology professor and scientist Tony (a wonderful Tony Leung Chiu-wai) starts his new job at a reputable German university. He is fascinated by how human brains, among babies vs. adults, processes and responds to stimulants. Upon his arrival, he is mesmerized by the ginkgo tree at the center of the university park. A few days later, COVID-19 hits and he finds himself stranded on campus with no one but him and a security guard (expertly played by Sylvester Groth). With much free time at hand, Tony stumbles upon a YouTube video featuring acclaimed scientist Dr. Alice Sauvage (Lea Seydoux) that addresses how plants sense and respond to their surroundings – an alluring entry point for a research he decides to carry out. Installing sensors on the ginkgo tree, he embarks on a quest of discovery that will be life changing. Tensions rise with the security guards who deems Tony mentally unstable and a complaint is raised that hinders his research project.
Meanwhile, in 1908, a young promising student, Grete (superbly played by Luna Wedler, who won the Best Young Actress award at Venice for her performance) decides to enroll in the very same university. At the time, female students had just been allowed to enroll and she becomes the first female student to join the botany program. In one of the film’s many standout scenes, a male-only committee evaluates her abilities, only for the oral exam to spiral into an alienating and aggravating experience for Grete, as her male professors feast on her fears of acceptance, remind her what being a female means in a male-dominated field of science and ensure they keep her ambitions in check. When she is expelled from her accommodation, she takes up a part-time job as a resident assistant photographer where the photography skills she acquires helps her visualize her fascination with plants during off-hours and, at the same time, feel closer to being in a place she could finally call home. The studio becomes her safe space for self expression, away from all the judgement and ridicule she had previously encountered.
In 1972, two students share an accommodation while pursuing their studies on the same campus. Hannes (an excellent Enzo Brumm) hates nature, while his roommate Gundula (Marlene Burow) is obsessed with it. Having a crush on Gundula, Hannes takes an interest in nature just to get closer to her, but he soon develops a genuine interest in it, and attempts to make an unlikely connection with Gundula’s treasured plants.
Above all, Silent Friend is a film about our desire for integration: finding a place we can belong to, searching for people who can accept us just the way we are, no matter how eccentric or passionate we may be, finding love that gives our lives much flavor and meaning, and establishing a connection that transcends linguistic, ideological and cultural boundaries. It is also a film about how communication, among humans and with nature, can truly be transformative and life-changing, if we intently listen and tune in to the hidden sounds, turning the indecipherable into a mutual language that we can share. It is a film you completely surrender to, letting it communicate with you in completely unexpected and remarkable ways, leaving you in utter awe by the time credits roll.
It speaks volumes that for a film that is 2.5 hours long that is among the very last films to screen in Venice, and after an exhausting ten days of back-to-back screenings, you find yourself wanting it never to end, ready to stay on for a further three hours, simply because the journey is so powerful and mesmerizing that returning to reality would sadly put an end to such breathtaking hypnosis.
As you exit the theatre and walk on the first grass you find, you’ll notice yourself smiling as your senses finally embrace everything you never knew existed. And as you touch the first tree in sight, a soothing and intense feeling of joy will rush through you. It is a reminder that you are alive in body and soul – and your world will never be the same again.
Grade: A
This review is from the 2025 Venice Film Festival where Silent Friend world premiered in competition. There is no U.S. distribution at this time.
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