Havel

Anyone expecting a comprehensive portrait of Václav Havel in 105 minutes is bound to be disappointed, because this is not that kind of film. Indeed, this is above all somewhat of a whimsical affair, deliberately leaving most of the characters anonymous and offering them to the viewer as some sort of personification of the various opinions and characters of the time. It doesn't even let Havel make a single speech or formulate a proper thought, it doesn't give any space to any of his plays, and it still shows him mainly as an ordinary man who is looking for the right attitude in life and at the same time trying to live that life (by the way, I suspect that his name is not even mentioned throughout the film). The film shows how Havel changed, and why he decided to become president, in a mere three scenes with Dubček. The counterbalance to the silent Havel in Viktor Dvořák's wonderful performance is of course the raging force of nature of Martin Hofmann's Landovský, Aňa Geislerová delighted me with how un-Geislerian she was, and director Slávek Horák again had a lot of ideas that worked – playful metaphors, for some too literal, the suffocating prison atmosphere and yet a humorous lightness in the right places... this is no monument to Havel, but the film nevertheless revives his legacy with style and dignity. (08/23/2020)

After last year's Amnesty, we get the solo biography of Havel, tracing the period from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s with a short epilogue in 1989. Personally, I can't say that I adored Slávek Horák's previous film, but Havel is playful, very human, and with an artful dose of artistic license. It is literal in the emotions of one man's fate that defined his personal attitude toward morality. Viktor Dvořák already practiced his Havel at the Rokoko theater in the play "Čapek" and in the film The Prague Orgy, and now he has fine-tuned it to perfection. Adrian Jastraban, for a change, already knows his Dubček from his solo Slovak film Dubček and here he just continues to play it safe. Olga Havlová, played by Aňa Geislerová, is a brand new addition, as she has been proving regularly in recent years that she has matured to a great level and that she is able to play the great personalities of Czech history without hesitation (I am already looking forward to her Němcová). The big surprise is Martin Hofmann as Lanďák (he has those tacky mannerisms that almost got him eliminated as an actor after Most!). Weak to routine performances include Kohoutová played by Seidlová, Kohout played by Majer, and Patočka's Barťák. I'm glad that time has moved on and that this biography is now the subject of its own film. I would consider having a film about his entire life even better, but in an era when even one key event in the entire life of the person under scrutiny is considered a biography, Horák's film is pretty much ideal. (07/24/2020)

I'm a little disappointed that the creators didn't go more in-depth. The script isn't anything special and it's generally pretty abbreviated. In any case, the film is saved by excellent performances by most of the actors involved, the most impressive of which was the absolutely authentic Martin Hofmann as the actor and Havel's friend Pavel Landovský. As for the musical accompaniment, I have no complaints, and the ending in particular was good. (65%) (12/21/2021)

This is a pleasant movie, but it gives us only a very simplified story, in places just a torso of this great man. But I think that if you don’t know the historical background, you won’t get much out of this movie. In any case, the acting is great and, despite the almost complete lack of emotion, the scenes with Olga partly make up for that. The visuals are good and there were some good ideas; it’s good to remember his legacy, but it could have been done even better. (01/24/2021)

I'm not a political person and I know only the most familiar things about the first Czech president, so I approached Havel with a very clean slate and with a certain expectation, which was aroused especially by the cast and the eerily authentic resemblance between Václav Havel and Viktor Dvořák. I'm aware that the person of Havel has many supporters as well as detractors, and if this biopic is even half based on truth, I find Havel as a person both morally strong and weak. I was a bit puzzled by the initial brevity of the film and (for the uninitiated like me) by the certain anonymity of the characters - I didn't immediately associate Patočka and Landovský with Havel, even though Martin Hofmann is very similar to Landovský. I liked the theatrical metaphors like "the world and life is one big and endless drama" on the one hand, but at the same time I was bothered by their (understandable) theatricality. As far as the performances go, I was generally satisfied: it was clear that Dvořák had put a lot of effort into his role, and he was convincingly seconded by Anna Geislerová (Olga) and Martin Hofmann, who provided several humorous scenes. Despite the great cast and solid topic, however, the film lacked any of the stronger scenes that would have explicitly grounded me, perhaps only the final preparation for the speech came closest. Last but not least, I must mention the decent music and camera work. (07/24/2020)