Better Go Mad in the Wild review – boozing, bantering hermits impart their spiritual wisdom

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Better Go Mad in the Wild review – boozing, bantering hermits impart their spiritual wisdom

The Guardian · 2 hours ago

Miro Remo's documentary Better Go Mad in the Wild follows František ("Franta") and Ondřej ("Ondra") Klišík, twin brothers living an isolated, off-grid existence in a cabin in the Czech Šumava mountains. The film, narrated in part by a slaughtered bull and adapted from a short story by Aleš Palán, blends observational documentary with surrealist flourishes as it captures the pair's eccentric, philosophical way of life, earning praise as a rowdy but profound meditation on family, nature and love.

Nearing 60, the brothers farm their smallholding with an unruly bull named Nandy, drink heavily, bicker, arm-wrestle and muse on spirituality and their disdain for most of humanity, while Franta also tinkers with a homemade flying machine. Once honoured by the Czech state for anti-Soviet activism, they have since turned from politics towards personal and spiritual reflection, with recurring squabbles resolving into warmth. The film won the Grand Prix at last year's Karlovy Vary festival, but Franta died in a village pond shortly afterwards; it opens in UK and Irish cinemas from 11 September.

  • Documentary follows eccentric twin hermit brothers in the Czech mountains.
  • Blends observational footage with surrealism; won Karlovy Vary's Grand Prix.
  • One brother, Franta, died after filming; released in UK cinemas 11 September.

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