The well-known French actor Lambert Wilson arrived in Karlovy Vary for the second time: The first-time round, he made a film here; this time he came to see the festival and accompany the competing film Corporate. “I like the Czech Republic. You have a good film industry here,” said the actor at the press conference.
Corporate tells the story of a cold-hearted HR manager, whose world and loyalty to a large company are shaken by the suicide of one of her staff members. “More and more films are being created about work relationships. I was captivated by the story of an individual told through his work. My father is a consultant in the field of HR, and we discussed similar topics a lot. Most films are about the victim. I wanted to focus on the other side,” revealed director Nicolas Silhol, who cited the films Serpico by Sidney Lumet and Insider by Michael Manna as models.
The director cast Wilson in his feature film debut as a company head who wears turtle-necks like Steve Jobs and embodies the system of large corporations. “I did not want to portray him as a bad guy. It was important to differentiate him internally,” said the actor, who also spoke about his desire to change with each role. In the film, his character begins to be defied by the main character. The director strived to film an optimistic story that could give energy to people in a similar situation. “In France, this film elicited strong reactions, which would not have happened if the film were dark,” believes the graduate of the famous La Fémis film and television school.
