{"id":265285,"date":"2025-07-14T21:45:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T21:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/265285\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T21:45:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T21:45:15","slug":"better-go-mad-in-the-wild-protagonist-dies-hours-after-kviff-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/265285\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Better Go Mad in the Wild’ Protagonist Dies Hours After KVIFF Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tCzech poet and former political activist Franti\u0161ek Kli\u0161\u00edk, one of the main protagonists in documentary \u201cBetter Go Mad in the Wild,\u201d died on Sunday, hours after the film won the Grand Prix at Karlovy Vary Film Festival<\/a>. He was 62 years old.<\/p>\n

\n\tKli\u0161\u00edk, who lost his right arm in a sawmill accident, was found dead in a pond in the Czech village of Ohrobec at 8.30 a.m. CET on Sunday. He had reportedly been visiting a friend in the village, and had been celebrating the film\u2019s success. The pond is located near the village pub.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere were no signs of foul play,\u201d said police spokesperson Michaela Richterov\u00e1, according to Prague Morning website, adding that the exact cause of death will be determined by an autopsy.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe documentary, directed by Miro Remo, follows the life of Franti\u0161ek and his twin brother Ond\u0159ej, who have spent decades living off the grid in the \u0160umava region. The brothers had attended the film\u2019s world premiere in Karlovy Vary on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film is based on a book by Ale\u0161 Pal\u00e1n, who confirmed Kli\u0161\u00edk\u2019s death. Pal\u00e1n said: \u201cWhat happened on the night of July 12-13 in the village of Ohrobec is still under investigation. I can only be glad that Franti\u0161ek managed to briefly but very intensely enjoy the success of Mira Remo\u2019s documentary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement, Remo addressed Franti\u0161ek Kli\u0161\u00edk in absentia, and described his reaction to his death:<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe news of your death hit me in the car; my phone was still buzzing with joy. We were returning home in a celebratory mood, and our whole family was enjoying the sweet feeling of victory. Our two children were in the back, and my wife Veronika and I held hands, crying with happiness \u2013 the past few years had been very difficult.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn the car, I look at the display, Ale\u0161 Pal\u00e1n is calling, and with his humble voice, he tells us all that you are dead\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSince then, there\u2019s been chaos within me, laughter through tears, tears through laughter \u2013 you would have liked that. Miles of highway toward the rest stop. I stopped, in tears, in the parking lot, got out of the car with my phone, and walked up a grassy hill, on which stood a giant, dilapidated, oversized bench, as if for a real giant.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe sky was blue, cloudless, the landscape sleepless\u2026 a gentle breeze played in the grass. I double-checked if it were really true; it was. Looking at my wife, I simply spread my arms, just like when we won, Franto, but differently now. Since then, many of your poems echo in my head:<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201d \u2018Life is a momentary illusion, a cry into silence, a foolish effort, a cup forced upon you, a sip of delicious taste, a prerequisite for death, which then is our certainty, a prerequisite for life.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis one is even in the film, connected with an image of fire, transitioning into an image of a starry sky, then a cut to your pensive face. Behind you, Ond\u0159ej and the dog are sleeping. Ond\u0159ej gets up from his bed and sits next to you. And you say: \u2018It\u2019s raining, it\u2019s raining into our souls\u2026and it won\u2019t stop and it won\u2019t stop\u2026\u2019 \u2013 you suspected it, my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Czech poet and former political activist Franti\u0161ek Kli\u0161\u00edk, one of the main protagonists in documentary \u201cBetter Go Mad…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[77,101248,99462,3943,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-265285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-frantisek-klisik","10":"tag-karlovy-vary-film-festival","11":"tag-movies","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114853781375459203","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}