Former Czechoslovakian President Vaclav Havel has always seemed larger than life, and Petr Jancarek’s new documentary captures not only an idiosyncratic politician at the height of his powers, but a fascinating figure at a crucial moment in world history.
Jancarek’s film, “Vaclav Havel, Prague Castle,” made its U.S. premiere May 7 at the Politics on Film festival in Washington, DC. The film tells the story of dissident playwright-turned-president Havel and the first six months after the “Velvet Revolution,” when Czechoslovakia peacefully slipped out from under the Iron Curtain in the waning days of the Soviet Union.
Jancarek weaves this story from compelling video footage from the time, candid still photos and interviews with Havel and his former advisors, former president George H.W. Bush, the Dalai Lama and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (who shows off by conducting her interview in Czech). In addition to a soundtrack befitting a revolution often linked with rock-n-roll, observant viewers can catch fleeting glimpses of musicians like Paul Simon and Frank Zappa.
Speaking after Friday’s screening, Jancarek told the festival audience he was 9 years old during the Prague Spring of 1968 and 30 during 1989′s Velvet Revolution. “It’s proof of the freedom of our country,” he said of Havel’s story.
Jancarek’s documentary captures the excitement of the Velvet Revolution and the flourishes Havel brought to his foreign policy and political life: For example, wowing the U.S. Congress one week, and then flying to Moscow to meet with Soviet leaders the next. Or making it a priority to invite both Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama to the newly independent nation. And insisting on driving himself to his cottage in the country, or when he would let his bodyguards drive, insisting on sitting up front.
“As a playwright, he knew how to write the script,” Petr Kolar, current Czech ambassador to the United States and Havel advisor, said after the screening. “He was implementing that.”
Watching the film, one can see why — even 20 years on — Havel remains a symbol of a new era emerging in Central Europe. While his popularity in the Czech Republic has slipped since he was president, he remains “an icon” in the country and around the world is “still perceived as something incredible,” Kolar said. “He became the symbol of the beautiful, lovely changes in Europe.”
By Aaron Lovell