Silent Friend
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Short description
Set in a botanical garden within a medieval German university town, this drama follows three individuals across different eras who are linked by a majestic ginkgo tree. In 1908, the first female student at the university uses photography to study plant patterns. By 1972, a student experiences a personal shift through a connection with nature. In 2020, a neuroscientist from Hong Kong conducts an experiment with the ancient tree while unable to leave campus during a pandemic. The film explores the connection between human lives and the slow rhythms of the natural world.
The film was written and directed by Ildikó Enyedi, following her previous works including On Body and Soul from 2017 and The Story of My Wife from 2021. The cast features Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Luna Wedler, Enzo Brumm, Sylvester Groth, Martin Wuttke, and Johannes Hegemann. Luna Wedler received an award in Venice for her performance as a young discovery.
Produced by companies from Germany, Belgium, Hungary, China, and France, the movie had a budget of 3 million USD. It has a runtime of 147 minutes. On TMDB, the film holds a rating of 7.1/10 based on 54 votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- In the final credits, immediately following the main cast, 118 plants featured in the film are listed.
- Preparing for the role of a scientist, Tony Leung Chiu-wai studied literature on the development of cognitive abilities in infants, visited three universities, consulted with neurobiologists, and worked with an English teacher to perfect a British accent. Preparation for the role took six months.
- Ildikó Enyedi wrote the character of Dr. Tony Wong specifically for Tony Leung Chiu-wai after watching recordings of his interviews.
- The film's first screening took place under the canopy of a ginkgo tree growing in the Marburg Botanical Garden.
- Director and co-screenwriter Ildikó Enyedi had been developing the idea for the film for over 20 years.
- The film is dedicated to the memory of German producer Karl Baumgartner, who assisted Ildikó Enyedi in working on the film back in the 2010s and served as its first producer.
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