Tony Leung traveled to Germany for his first European production, Ildikó Enyedi’s mystical ‘Silent Friend,’ spanning COVID, 1908 and 1972.
Tony Leung’s brooding screen presence is about to meet a different kind of landscape. and it’s all happening in Ildikó Enyedi’s mystical. mind-bending “Silent Friend.” In his first European production and only a rare foray outside Asia. the Hong Kong icon brings a distinctly urban intensity to a story rooted in nature. perception. and the strange way time can bend.
Leung traveled to Germany to film Enyedi’s feature, playing neuroscientist Dr.. Tony Wong.. Set in the early days of the COVID pandemic in 2020. his character is studying electromagnetic impulses—of all things—emitted by a gingko tree in Marburg. Germany.. The film doesn’t just use the tree as a symbol; it makes it a living centerpiece. with Leung’s almost-present-day chapter braided throughout the movie’s fabric.
“Silent Friend” unfolds as a triptych, with three stories orbiting the tree in different eras.. Alongside Leung, Léa Seydoux appears as a botanist, while Luna Welder portrays a German feminist scientist in 1908.. The third thread takes place in 1972. following a pair of college students as they experience first love. all happening in the tree’s midst.. The structure turns the film into something like a dialogue across time—each chapter distinct. but all tied to the same botanical presence.
In conversations about the project, Leung pointed to the kind of directing collaboration that draws him in.. He said he watched Enyedi’s work. including “On Body and Soul” and “The Story of My Wife. ” and decided he had to work with her.. He also emphasized that he hadn’t planned a move outside Asia during his decades-long career. explaining that he lets opportunities come to him when something feels interesting. but that director choice matters most to him.
Enyedi, meanwhile, framed her casting approach and timing with the specific emotional logic of the film’s themes.. She said she’s “big about saying no” rather than pursuing roles herself. and she anchored Leung’s part in 2020. during the start of lockdown—when. in her words. “time becomes fluid” and the public’s relationship to nature and the wider world shifted.. Her explanation linked the lockdown-era mindset to a wider human pause: a global experiment in which people had space to stop. rethink priorities. and reconsider how the human world relates to animals and plants.
Leung’s character becomes the most direct representation of that changed perception.. He is stranded at Marburg University during the height of lockdown. and the plot follows how his experiments evolve into a question of whether trees can “mate.” As his study progresses. Enyedi’s worldview—that perception is altered. and reality seems to respond—shows up through his work. and Leung said the actor’s own perspective changed along the way.
“I’m not a science person. ” Leung said of his preparation. describing how he immersed himself in science books and even a text about plants’ intelligence.. He said the research reshaped how he views plants. describing them as sentient beings in a way that mirrors how humans understand themselves.. He added that once you develop respect for plants. you’re pushed to carry that same respect toward other living beings—resulting in a broader shift in how he sees the world.
He also discussed the kinds of reading that informed his mindset for the role. including material on early cognitive development and plants’ intelligence.. Leung referenced a book by James Bridle titled “Ways of Being. ” as well as philosophical work by Alan Watts. placing the film’s scientific surface under a more contemplative lens.
Enyedi also looked back at how her career shifted after “On Body and Soul” drew Best International Feature Oscar attention in 2018 for an affair between slaughterhouse workers that takes place only when they sleep.. She said the nomination raised her profile and also meant entering the often tedious routine of awards campaigning. but she contrasted that world with her own sense of what matters most—arguing that a film festival is “more important” because the visibility. money. and support required for Oscar campaigning aren’t available in the same way.
Still, Enyedi treated recognition as reassurance rather than a distraction.. She said “My 20th Century” winning in Cannes in 1989 mattered deeply to her personally. calling it a kind of stabilizing reflection of her work just before the Berlin Wall fell.. She also noted that her diploma film was banned for political reasons. describing the arc of her early career as both complicated and formative. before returning to international screenings and competitions.. With “Silent Friend. ” she said premiering last year in competition in Venice fits into that longer pattern of making films whose relevance isn’t driven purely by money or influence.
As for where audiences can catch “Silent Friend. ” it is now playing in select theaters from “1-2 Special.” For viewers. that limited rollout signals a film that’s being offered in a more curated way—one that suits its slow-burn blend of science-minded curiosity. emotional intimacy. and nature-forward mysticism.
Tony Leung Silent Friend Ildikó Enyedi European production Marburg Germany Léa Seydoux Luna Welder