Obcan Havel – The Citizen Havel - The Movie

The film chronologically maps both the functional periods of Vaclav Havel as the Czech president. We can see how he two times prepares for his presidential swearing.

One of the leitmotivs of the movie is Havel’s relationship with Vaclav Klaus. Really special is the episode, when Bill Clinton is in Prague. “I’ll be at least one tenth as rude as Klaus is to me, and I won’t invite him” says Havel, reacting to Klaus’ wish to see Clinton playing the saxophone in Jazz Club Reduta. Cut. Klaus sitting next to Bill Clinton in Reduta, as happy as King.

In the autumn of 1992 Havel agreed to cooperate with a documentarist Pavel Koutcky, who wanted to film the backstage of presidential activities. Until now, there were 45 hours of material, that were edited into 1:20 film, into the film The Citizen Havel, which has its premiere on 31st January. Everything is authentic, there is not a stylized moment. It deals minimally with politics – it is a story of Havel, and in its moments it is more funny than some comedies.