2019 Film Festival
film synopsis
This poignant road movie about two older men coming to terms with the past stars the great Czech director Jiří Menzel (Closely Watched Trains) and Peter Simonischek (a standout as the father in Toni Erdmann, PSIFF 2017). Menzel plays 80-year-old Ali, a cranky Slovak interpreter who begrudgingly accompanies the 70-ish Austrian, Georg (Simonischek), so he can trace the wartime path of his father, a vicious Nazi commander, from whom he is estranged. Complicating matters are the two men’s vastly different temperaments and the fact that Georg’s father was responsible for the death of Ali’s parents. Although alcoholic bon vivant Georg alienates Ali because of his interest in having a good time along the way (particularly when it comes to adventures with the opposite sex), eventually the two men begin to warm to each other. As they explore Slovakia together, they find a country that in many instances would prefer to forget about its past.
In competition for the FIPRESCI Award.