Better Go Mad in the Wild (2025)

On a July Sunday, the body of František Klišík was found in a fishpond not far from Prague. Just a few days before his death, he had attended the world premiere of a documentary about him and his twin brother Ondřej Klišík in Karlovy Vary, where they both gave interviews. With his death, a universal truth that transcends the film itself seems to spill back into reality, as if the story were completing itself beyond the screen.

Franta and Ondra are inseparable twins living far from civilization, deep in the embrace of nature. Their daily routine—soaked in peace and harmony with the surrounding world—slowly begins to crack under the pressure of inner contradictions. Franta longs for freedom, change, and adventure, while Ondra clings to the safety of constancy. Their dual existence shatters like a mirror—one face, different desires. Within nature’s quiet embrace unfolds a fragile drama.

Miro Remo’s film Raději zešílet v divočině (Rather Go Mad in the Wilderness) is a bittersweet portrait of the Šumava twins’ rustic life in the twilight of their years. The film blends the raw realism of orthodox documentary filmmaking with the powerful personalities of its two protagonists—whose vivid presence sometimes shades reality with a touch of performance.

The film was inspired by Aleš Palán’s book of the same name, which gathers several stories from the Šumava region. Complemented by the photography of Ján Šibík, the charisma of the Klišík brothers captivated director Miro Remo, who, together with his crew, filmed over a span of more than six years, for a total of about sixty shooting days. During those six years, not only did a masterpiece take shape, but—by their own account—a true friendship as well.