JIFF 2018: The Interpreter (Tlumocník)

The Story

“Through its lovely performances, the film accesses a profound and topical reality about our relationship to history: We cannot visit the sins of the father on the son, but neither can we deny their legacy. Innocence, like guilt, must be earned.” — Variety

An 80-year-old translator, Ali Ungár (Jirí Menzel), comes across a book written by a former SS officer recounting his war experiences in Slovakia. Ali realises that one of the chapters may well describe his own parents’ execution. And so, armed with a pistol, he sets off to Vienna to look for the SS man and take his revenge. But once there, the only person he encounters is the man’s 70-year-old son Georg (Peter Simonischek, Toni Erdmann), a former teacher who has spent his whole life avoiding his father and suffering from an addiction to alcohol. The translator’s visit arouses Georg’s curiosity and he decides to invite Ali on a trip through Slovakia. But while Georg is basically out to have a good time, Ali is hoping to find out how his parents really died. Gradually, these two very different men begin to warm to each other and together, they discover a country that would prefer to forget about its past.

Oscillating between comedy and tragedy, this moving and pertinent road movie focuses on two old men weighed down by the unresolved conflicts that have plagued their lives who are now trying to free themselves from this oppressive burden.

Rating

CTC

Duration

Cast

Jirí Menzel, Peter Simonischek, Zuzana Mauréry, Attila Mokoš

Director

Martin Sulík