When One Person Chooses to Become “The Cruel One Who Disappears,” While the Other Chooses to Be “Frozen in Grief”

Review (1)

Amid an atmosphere that appears serene in Budapest, this documentary takes us to explore the “silence” that seeps into the long-estranged relationship between a father and his daughter. What makes the film distinctive is its choice of banana trees, standing tall in the father’s home, as a means of communication. The wonder lies in how it conveys a state of emotional “in-between” — the feeling of wanting to reconnect but being unable to find the words. In the end, silence becomes both a wall and a bridge at the same time.

ภาพจากสารคดี The Silence of the Banana Trees บ้านหลังนี้ยังมีเธอ

The documentary does not shout its drama in loud, tearful tones.

Instead, it captures the quiet waiting and the mere presence of a plant that seems out of place in Eastern Europe — much like human relationships that can sometimes feel like strangers to one another, even after having lived under the same roof. We watch time pass slowly through the trembling banana leaves. It raises a profound question: How do we deal with the “void” in our hearts when words surrender to painful memories?

The pain of the father and daughter — both trying to numb themselves as if under anesthesia — turns into self-deception that they are “handling it.” The father is trapped in his own restraint, too hesitant to reach out and hold his child. He pretends to live under simple routines, when in truth he is utterly defeated by memory every second he spends gazing at those banana trees. It reflects how some people might choose to die in loneliness rather than admit how deeply they long for an embrace.

ภาพจากสารคดี The Silence of the Banana Trees บ้านหลังนี้ยังมีเธอ

What relates to universal perspectives is the condition in which younger generations struggle to understand the older generation — parents who carry certain hidden “wounds.” It is like trying to grow a tropical plant in frozen soil. It is an attempt to nurture love in an environment that seems impossible. The tenderness of this story does not come from spoken words of love, but from the willingness to “live with silence” and patiently watch something grow together.