26/09/2025 - Le cinéaste tchèque interroge les limites de ce qui est juste et de ce qui est mal à travers l'histoire de deux parents qui se battent pour sauver la vie de leur fille adolescente

(© Pablo Gómez/SSIFF)

Ungrateful Beings [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Olmo Omerzu
fiche film] is the fifth feature by Czech filmmaker Olmo Omerzu. We seized the chance to talk about the movie with him at the 73rd San Sebastian International Film Festival, where it’s competing for the Golden Shell.

Cineuropa: Let's start by talking about the title of the film. I guess you’re playing on the idea of parents thinking their kids are selfish and ungrateful when they don't do what’s expected of them.
Olmo Omerzu: It's more something that we’re all familiar with from childhood, when parents use that word to trigger guilt in their child. It’s something that always irritated me. Why children should be grateful? Some parents think they should be grateful for being born. One of the other main topics in the film is manipulation; I think the title reflects the manipulative system that our parents often use.

I'm curious about the bilingual family. Was this an idea you had from the very beginning, during the film’s conception?
I wasn't really sure whether it would be a Czech family or a bilingual one, there were two versions of the film. But I connected more with the final version when I met Barry Ward; we were both jurors at Karlovy Vary. From the very beginning, the idea of having a broken family that’s also broken in terms of the languages they speak, was interesting to me. They’re like foreigners in their own family community. In a context where everything should be about closeness and trust, they’re a little disconnected from each other.

From the beginning of the film, there's a sense of pretend or fake happiness, with the father sending pictures to his ex-wife showing how much fun the kids and him are having. What can you tell me about that?
They’re probably trying to be happy, like any normal person, but, in my mind, what you’re describing is more about how lies work in a relationship. Let's just say that the core driver for drama in the film is based on white lies, like the father sending messages to the wife, proving how much of a good father he is. But then those lies become bigger and darker, and it all descends into a manipulative game. And another important idea is that parents and children can never know one another one hundred per cent.

I found there was a certain twisted morality to the parents, like when the father seems really perturbed when the daughter dares him to go to the nudist beach but then doesn't hesitate to pretend he’s her boyfriend and sexts her. What do you think about this?
In my mind, there are certain moral provocations that it’s really important to present the audience with. To a certain extent, even when I was writing, I had the same reaction to that kind of situation. But, on the other hand, the situation was so hard and complex - they were fighting for their daughter's life. They make the wrong decision because they’re not able to choose the right one, they don’t know what the right decision is. So, in some respects, I’m on the fence. I don't agree with their behaviour, but I can understand them.

There’s a certain comedic tone to the movie which the audience reacted quite well to, but I felt the prevalent emotion was more discomfort than fun.
For me, comedy and discomfort are very closely connected. Sometimes, when we feel uncomfortable or unsettled by a situation, we laugh. Even if I don’t think the film is a comedy, it does have moments of gentle irony where destiny catches up with the characters and thrusts them into certain situations. I felt it was important to deal with the tonal shifts in the film, to find a balance between all the serious and dramatic themes the film explores, and the strange situations and the characters’ absurd reactions.

There are several companies from five different countries involved in the film’s production. Did it make the process more complicated, or did it enrich the movie?
Years ago, I remember directors sometimes said that they were forced to work with people they didn’t want to work with, or to shoot in places they didn’t want to shoot in. I’ve never had an experience like that, because I don’t come from such a big country, so I always find it interesting to work with other collaborators and to have more options over who you work with. The only thing that’s a little more complicated is the lengthier funding process. When you have a production that involves a variety of companies, it means you’re looking for different ways to close your budget and waiting for financing from different countries. I think all directors would like to start shooting as soon as the script has been developed, and it’s always a bit frustrating to have to wait. But, on the other hand, there are so many good opportunities that come with working with so many different talents from all across Europe.

(Traduit de l'anglais)