Havel

Czech Republic’s Official Entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 93rd Academy Awards

I am back for another installment of international delight in film.

Recently, I watched a screener for Havel, the follow-up to Slavek Horák’s highly-decorated Home Care (2015), the Czech Republic’s official Academy entry for that year. Havel is the first major fact-based biopic about Czech president and human rights icon, Vaclav Havel.

The synopsis: It is the late 1960s in Czechoslovakia, and accomplished playwright Václav Havel is reveling in the thrill of new-found freedom as the iron grip of Soviet repression finally loosens.

Content and devoted to his position as a respected artist, Havel is determined to avoid any conflict that might jeopardize his world. But when Soviet Russia invades the country and tarnishes its short-lived liberation, Havel must risk it all in the name of freedom and revolution, spearheading a formidable resistance movement while facing the constant threat of imprisonment or death.

Despite paying a heavy price for his involvements, Havel rises from the ashes to astonishing political heights, overthrowing the incumbent regime and becoming the first president of the new Czech Republic.

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