The Language as Movement: Interview with Jan Budař
One of the revelations of Javier Rebollo’s film La mujer sin piano (The Woman Without a Piano) was Jan Budař’s performance, which accompanied Carmen Machi in her fascinating nocturnal wandering through Madrid. The Czech actor teamed up with Rebollo once again for En la alcoba del sultán (In the Sultan’s Chamber), which premiered worldwide at the 2024 SEMINCI. This brief interview was born from Jan’s visit to Valladolid.
Martin Pawley (MP): When did you first realize that you liked acting? Was deciding to dedicate yourself to acting a difficult decision?
Jan Budař (JB): When I was fourteen, I saw the movie Rain Man and loved Dustin Hoffman’s performance so much that I thought, “Being an actor could be an interesting path.” No one in my family was an actor, so it was a huge surprise for everyone. The decision wasn’t hard, though the life of an actor can sometimes be a bit difficult [laughs].
MP: Your acting has a very physical component; you fit into a tradition where comedy is closely linked to the body, movement, gesture, and physical action, but not from excess, rather from restraint. It makes me think of the French tradition of Jacques Tati or Pierre Etaix, or of course, silent film figures like Buster Keaton.
JB: They are my heroes, and I’m deeply honored that you say that, thank you so much. The body is an absolutely essential means of expression for an actor (besides the voice), and I enjoy working with the body immensely when I play a role. I search for the character’s movements and posture through my body. That’s why I also train with specialists, so I can work as best as possible with my body.
MP: The two characters you portray in Javier Rebollo’s films share this physical comedy, but at the same time, they are very different—La mujer sin piano’s character is quieter and more restrained, “more Kaurismäki,” while the character in En la alcoba del sultán is “more Tintin.” In both cases, you also take on the challenge of working naturally in a language that’s not your own (Spanish and English, respectively).
JB: Speaking a language is also a movement: a movement of the mouth, the hands, the face. When I learn a foreign language, I perceive it with my ears but even more so with my body. A different language gives a person a different personality, and that’s fascinating. In En la alcoba del sultán, I had to learn some phrases in Arabic, and that was a real challenge.
MP: Some of your most iconic characters have a certain innocence or naivety, like the one in La mujer sin piano, but also in films you’ve written, like Nuda v Brně (Vladimír Morávek, 2003). What attracts you to these kinds of characters?
JB: I don’t know, maybe it’s my sensitive artist’s soul [laughs]. Radek from La mujer sin piano has Asperger’s syndrome, and Standa from Nuda v Brně has mild brain dysfunction, and these kinds of characters are a gift for an actor.
MP: The fact that you’ve written and directed films yourself—has it changed the way you work as an actor in films by other filmmakers? Has it altered the way you approach a shoot, made you more understanding of other roles in cinema, or the doubts and concerns an actor may have?
JB: Yes, it has greatly changed my view of myself as an actor. Now I have much more respect for every person on set. The sense of importance that actors sometimes have has completely disappeared, and I’m left with a love for cinema and gratitude every time I can contribute to the creation of a film. The fact that I’m more than just an actor gives me important stability in my life.
MP: Your first fiction feature film, Princ Mamánek, is a family-oriented movie with fantasy elements, which is an interesting choice, not very common among actors who venture into directing. How did the idea for this film come about?
JB: I love fairy tales—they are timeless and still feel fresh for new generations of children. Príncipe de mamá is a low-budget film, as a first-time director I couldn’t afford anything else. The idea came up when I visited Dětenice (Czech Republic), where there is a castle and a medieval tavern, and I agreed with the owner that we could shoot a fairy tale there.
MP: You’ve done quite a bit of film and television. Do you like theatre? Do you feel like doing more theatre, or do you prefer to face a camera?
JB: I enjoy a film shoot more because they usually take place in interesting locations. What I like most is when I work in countries I’ve never been to before.
MP: Who are your main references among film actors and actresses? Could you name some of your favorite films and directors?
JB: There are so many actors and actresses I admire… Dustin Hoffman, Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Jean-Paul Belmondo… the list could go on and on [laughs]. The same goes for directors: Javier Rebollo, Jean-Luc Godard, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Jan Svěrák, Miloš Forman, Jan Němec, Karel Zeman, Charles Chaplin, Orson Welles, and many more…
MP: What do you think of the cinema of your country, both in the past and in the present?
JB: We have many excellent films and filmmakers, but I feel like Czech cinema today is a bit stagnant. It repeats a strange format of comedy without humor with the goal of making money, and that’s a pity. Still, in my opinion, every year, one or two good films emerge in the Czech Republic.
MP: You are also a composer and musician—you play the piano and sing. How do you think music complements or transforms your work as an actor?
JB: This is a very interesting question! I think music is the language of our soul, and the fact that I can play the piano, sing, and compose music gives me a very pleasant feeling that I can also express myself in this universal language that everyone understands. Music also continues to enrich my heart, and that is very valuable to me as an actor.
MP: When you perform concerts or play music in front of an audience, do you understand that there’s also a theatrical component to that performance, a “transformation into a character,” the Jan Budař musician, or do you see it as a completely different facet?
JB: Singing and playing the piano require many hours of practice, so when I have a concert, I focus entirely on the technique of singing and playing the piano, so I don’t fully enjoy the role of musician, although I would like to [laughs].
Martin Pawley
Jan Budař: “Creators Extract Creativity as if We Were Ancient Gold Seekers”
In the silent film era, movie stars had an absolute command over their bodies and their musicality, two skills that are hard to find today. Nowadays, there are hardly any filmmakers dedicated to finding performers who can speak with their whole body. Without a doubt, **Javier Rebollo** is one of them.
In an interview I conducted with him in 2010, the Madrid-based filmmaker said: "Everything that is said instead of being shown is lost for the viewer." And in his films, actors perform sequences with no dialogue. The protagonist of his first feature film, *Lo que sé de Lola* (What I Know About Lola), for example, barely spoke.
While preparing *La mujer sin piano* (The Woman Without a Piano), Rebollo received a video from a Czech actor who was auditioning for a Polish character. The actor claimed there would be no language issues and that he was even learning a little Spanish at that moment. That video was enough to get him the role.
That’s how **Jan Budař** entered Spanish cinema. In addition to being an actor, Budař is a singer, composer, dancer, and filmmaker. He’s tall, slender, kind, and very grateful for every question asked of him.
I had the chance to confirm this a few weeks ago at the Valladolid International Film Festival, Seminci, when I asked him in a discussion following the screening of *En la alcoba del sultán* (In the Sultan's Chamber), soon to be released in Valencia. Right then, we agreed that I would conduct this interview.
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**Your first contact with the Spanish language wasn’t cinematic but musical. Your first album, *Písně pro Hrubeše a Mareše* ("Songs for Two Friends", 2005), ended with a song sung in Spanish: *Amigo, levántate* ("Friend, Get Up"). Why do you challenge yourself to create your artistic contributions in multiple languages?**
I love learning foreign languages. It allows me to feel like a child again and make strange sounds. It also gives me another personality that comes with the language because language is not just sound but also movement, gestures, different positions of the tongue, teeth, and jaw.
It’s a miracle to use sounds from another culture—it gives me access to other customs, other ways of living, other ways of thinking. It enriches me. That’s why I love singing in foreign languages. That’s how my Spanish songs *Amigo, levántate*, *Amigo, amigo*, and *Cuándo veremos el mar juntos* ("When Will We See the Sea Together") were born.
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**As a viewer of your own work, in which language do you feel most like an actor?**
Czech is my mother tongue, so I don’t have to think, and it could be said that when I act in Czech, I feel more confident. The other languages are and will be a challenge for me, as I strive for as much authenticity as possible while also being truthful when expressing myself in a foreign language.
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**Referring to how to film a dialogue scene, Max Ophuls once said: “Bad actors, shot-reverse-shot; good actors, long take.” Do you consider it a gift to act out an entire scene in one take? In *La mujer sin piano*, you have several scenes like this with Carmen Machi.**
I love single-shot sequences. The film is an artificial reality that the viewer must believe as if it were life itself, and long takes are an excellent way to show a piece of life of the characters without being interrupted by editing. I immensely enjoy that.
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**Your entry into Spanish cinema seems mysterious, almost magical. I can’t think of any other Czech actor who has done it. But the mystery fades when you do it through such a personal filmography as that of Javier Rebollo. How did you meet him?**
After a screening in Madrid of the Czech film *Vratné lahve* ("The Returnable Bottles"), in 2009, I asked some people if they could give my DVD with my showreel to Pedro Almodóvar, because my dream was and still is to act in one of his films.
A woman from the Czech embassy gave my DVD to Javier Rebollo, who at that moment was looking for an Eastern European actor for *La mujer sin piano*. Javier put the DVD in the computer of a restaurant kitchen where he and his girlfriend were having dinner. He saw my face (without sound!) and decided: “It’s him. This is Radek.” And that’s how I got into his film. A pure miracle.
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**None of Javier Rebollo’s films are made in just one language. You speak in Polish (*La mujer sin piano*) and in Arabic, French, and English (*En la alcoba del sultán*). With the added difficulty of the language and the changes in the filming schedule for Rebollo’s latest movie, did you feel the same creative freedom as you did in your first film with him?**
Javier had a very difficult situation when we weren’t given permission to shoot *En la alcoba del sultán* in Morocco. In the end, the entire production moved to Tunisia. From the beginning, I wanted to witness the entire shoot because I’m a big fan of Javier. I love his work.
During the shooting, I was present and focused not only on my acting but also on the entire team because the whole shoot was very demanding and adventurous. The fact that the film exists is a true miracle. Javier is extremely kind to his actors and gives them much love, care, and freedom, which is a great gift.
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**In addition to acting in film, you have written scripts, directed, and composed songs. Which of these creative roles do you identify with the most?**
I identify with creativity itself, if that’s possible. Because creativity is like a child’s dream or a magical world from our subconscious—it’s always there and everywhere. However, we, the creators, continue to extract it as if we were ancient gold seekers.
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**In Spain, you’re virtually unknown despite having participated in more than eighty films. Which title would you highlight in your vast career? Which role are you particularly proud of?**
Without a doubt, I choose my debut as a director. I also took care of the script, composed the music, and played the lead role. It’s called *Princ Mamanek* ("Mommy’s Prince", 2022). It’s a fairy tale for children but also for adults. I love fairy tales for adults.
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**In an enigmatic sequence of *En la alcoba del sultán*, you claim to be the narrator of the story. I say enigmatic because the voiceover we sometimes hear is not yours. Why do you think your supporting character is ultimately the narrator?**
That voice could be mine as well because all the narrator’s texts are spoken by my character, Caid Maclean. I became the narrator of the story as Caid, perhaps because I was present throughout the entire shoot.
I lived a great adventure with Javier Rebollo as an observer, while also experiencing my own great story within the story. That’s how Javier came up with the idea of making Caid the narrator. I think it’s a very original and unexpected point in the film.
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**Daniel Gascó**
Collaborator at MAKMA
Film critic and teacher of film courses, he collaborates with various festivals and magazines. He is the owner of the Stromboli video club in Valencia.
