Wreathed in cigarette smoke and with an eye for the personal, this Czech TV biopic of playwright-turned-president Vaclav Havel is aiming for broad strokes and a broad audience and, by and large, succeeds on its own terms. After a brief prologue, it enters the life of Havel (Viktor Dvorák) in the Warsaw Pact invasion era of 1968, before concentrating on the Seventies, finally taking us to 1989 and the Velvet Revolution that led to him becoming the first post-Communist leader of the Czech Republic. Writer/director Slávek Horák and his co-writer Rudolf Suchánek aren't simply interested in burnishing Havel's legacy, but in getting under the skin of the man who, though he might have had a strong moral sense of duty in some areas, also had plenty of personal flaws, especially when it came to relationships.
If Havel's increasing involvement in the artistic community's resistance against Communism drives the film, there is still considerable weight given.
If Havel's increasing involvement in the artistic community's resistance against Communism drives the film, there is still considerable weight given.
- 10/29/2020
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Ideally timed to draw domestic audiences back into Czech cinemas, loosely historical local-hero biopic “Havel” doesn’t let pesky facts get in the way of a good story. Multihyphenate Slávek Horák takes creative license with certain facts to stress the irony and absurdity of Václav Havel’s metamorphosis from celebrated playwright to banned and jailed human rights activist to eventual President of Czechoslovakia.
Concentrating more on Havel’s personal evolution (here prodded by the women in his life) and various emotional truths, who ultimately steps out of his comfort zone to become politically engaged. While some viewers may take issue with the simplifications, elisions and composites of Horák’s approach, others will be inspired once again by Havel’s courageous battle against oppression and the sacrifices he made.
A brief opening prologue set in the late 1980s lays out one of the central paradoxes of the protagonist’s life: that...
Concentrating more on Havel’s personal evolution (here prodded by the women in his life) and various emotional truths, who ultimately steps out of his comfort zone to become politically engaged. While some viewers may take issue with the simplifications, elisions and composites of Horák’s approach, others will be inspired once again by Havel’s courageous battle against oppression and the sacrifices he made.
A brief opening prologue set in the late 1980s lays out one of the central paradoxes of the protagonist’s life: that...
- 7/22/2020
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
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