A film where the ‘hero’ is an ancient tree set in a medieval German town is to be watched alone in quiet contemplation.
Silent Friend (2hr, 27 min) is a truly amazing work of both art and science. The hero is a large and ancient gingko situated in a botanic garden in Marburg, Germany. The film is visually stunning in both macro photography and moody landscapes and its ideas resonate for people who love historic gardens, plants – especially trees – scientific ideas and history.
The whole film hangs around the gingko, which is seen in all seasons. But the core conceit weaves together stories set in 1908, 1972 and 2020, in and near the garden.
I have been reading a lot about scientific ideas of consciousness recently, including Michael Pollan’s excellent book, A World Appears – A journey into consciousness. Pollan dabbles in several ideas contained in Silent Friend, especially on defining consciousness as way more than simple sentience and whether plants have a form of consciousness.
In the film, the gingko stands as silent witness to generations of change. It connects three individuals across time through their encounters with the natural world. The film moves from the richest colour into black and white for the oldest story and back through superb chiaroscuro of the garden in the night and day. This gives it its outstanding visual effects.
The 2020 story has a neuroscientist from Hong Kong exploring the mind of babies and beginning an unexpected, mind-altering experiment with the ancient tree. In 1972, a young student is profoundly changed by the simple act of observing and connecting with a geranium. Through the lens of photography, in 1908 Marburg university’s first female student discovers sacred patterns of the universe hidden within the humblest of plants.
Each of these characters, due to their circumstances and scientific interests, try to reach the ‘consciousness’ of this tree, and other plants including that potted geranium(!). Sounds whacky but it is all plausible in these interwoven plots. The reasons for each of these endeavours carefully reflect the eras and the social circumstances of the three scientists studying the tree.
The writing and direction is by the distinguished Hungarian Ildiko Enyedi. I cannot imagine how she pitched this film successfully; its production values and cast are absolutely top drawer and must have taken a big budget to make. Silent Friend has been screened in art house cinemas around Australia. It may eventually appear on either SBS or a streaming service.
While some may find it slow or even incomprehensible, I fully recommend it and your patience will be rewarded in the last five minutes of the film, when the tree features in all its magnificence.