Enyedi’s Silent Friend closes Venice fest, stars Tony Leung

Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi's botanical drama Silent Friend premiered at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 2025, closing the competition as the final contender for the Golden Lion award. The film marked a career milestone for Hong Kong cinema icon Tony Leung Chiu-wai, representing his debut in European cinema.scmp+1

International Recognition at Venice

Silent Friend garnered significant acclaim during its Venice premiere, receiving a five-minute ovation from the festival audience. The film won multiple prestigious awards, including the International Critics' Prize (FIPRESCI Prize), one of Venice's most coveted honors. The production also earned recognition from several other organizations, including the Green Drop Award (shared with Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia), the Interfilm Award for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue, and the CinemaSarà Award.deadline+2

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film represents "an unusual new feature" that premiered in the festival's main competition, where it successfully encapsulated themes of humanity, nature, and botany through its experimental narrative structure.hollywoodreporter

Botanical Cinema with Star Power

The film tells three interconnected stories spanning over 100 years, all centered around an ancient ginkgo tree planted in 1832 at the University of Marburg in Germany. Leung portrays Professor Tony Wong, a neuroscientist studying infant cognition who, during the 2020 pandemic lockdown, begins conducting experiments on the centuries-old tree. His character's journey unfolds alongside stories from 1908 and 1972, featuring Luna Wedler as the university's first female student and Enzo Brumm as a student in the post-1968 era.labiennale+1

Léa Seydoux appears as Dr. Alice Sauvage, a botanist specializing in plant communication, whose TED talk inspires Leung's character to explore the correspondences between plant and human reactions. The film's unique approach extends to crediting every plant species that appears in the production alongside its human cast.cineuropa+1

Tony Leung's European Debut

For Tony Leung, who received the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023, Silent Friend represents a significant career expansion. Speaking to Variety, Leung expressed interest in working with Enyedi again, stating, "If I get the opportunity, I would love to work with Ildikó once more".variety

The actor revealed that director Enyedi wrote the role specifically for him after watching his interviews and sensing "something within" him. Leung described his character as "a profoundly lonely individual" and appreciated the challenge of portraying a role with minimal dialogue, explaining that "the film illustrates that even without a shared language, empathy allows us to understand one another".variety

Festival Circuit and Future Release

Following its Venice premiere, Silent Friend is scheduled to continue its festival run at the Toronto International Film Festival (September 8), the Busan International Film Festival (September 18), and the Vancouver International Film Festival (October 9). The film is a co-production between Germany, France, Hungary, and China, with international sales handled by Films Boutique.imdb+1

Critics have praised Enyedi's direction, with Variety calling the film "utterly enchanting" and noting its exploration of communication between species at a time when "many appear to be retreating into themselves". However, reception has been mixed, with some reviewers finding the film's ambitious scope challenging to fully realize within conventional dramatic structures.cineuropa+1