Review: Hiljaiset sillat

Silent bridges make tears flow

On the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre, Silent Bridges is a breathtakingly beautiful and emotional story about love, after which nothing is the same as before.

Silent Bridges is a familiar story from the 1995 film starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. The film, like the play, is based on Robert James Waller’s novel published in 1992.

Silent Bridges is a story about love, not just any love, but about a “larger-than-life” love that changes the lives of two people and whose memory carries even beyond death.

Traveling the world photographer Robert Kincaid meets Francesca Johnson, a mother in rural Iowa, whose family, a husband and two teenage children, happen to be away from home for a few days.

In four days, Robert and Francesca experience love, after which nothing is the same. The clichés pale in comparison and the descriptions of great love in world literature take second place to the love story of Robert and Francesca. Love ignites unexpectedly, and lasts for the rest of her life, even though Robert leaves and Francesca stays with her family.

Francesca keeps her secret, which she only wants to share with her children after she dies. Francesca’s children Caro and Miki, who came to empty their old home after their mother’s death, find their mother’s letter, diary and a box of old photographs. Adult children live out their mother’s great love through letters, notes, and pictures. The depth of Francesca and Robert’s love and emotions goes back decades. Francesca made a selfless choice and decided to stay with her family. His daughter Caro, on the other hand, makes a different choice after hearing her mother’s love story.

Kari Heiskanen as Robert and Merja Larivaara as Francescan interpret the main couple’s emotions in an understated and convincing way. It is difficult to imagine actors in the roles who would be able to surpass the performances of Larivaara and Heiskanen. Elina Hietanen as Carona and Mikko Virtanen as Mikki also do a great job as bickering siblings, whose exterior façade is broken piece by piece by revealing their mother’s secret.

Authenticity and naked vulnerable humanity are the central themes of the play. Silent Bridges screams quietly: do you dare to live, do you dare to love, what is important in life? What do you want from your life and what are you willing to sacrifice for it?

Silent Bridges is an evocative and touching performance that is suitable for anyone who is ready to face themselves, their memories and emotions and challenge themselves to reflect on the meaning and importance of love. It is advisable to bring a package of handkerchiefs with you to the performance.