Readers advisory: The following film review contains unfettered criticism and a general lack of romanticism which some devotees of Václav Havel may find offensive. Reader discretion is advised.
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Expectations of “Leaving” (Odcházení), the new film by playwright and former Czech President Václav Havel, are high largely because of Havel’s status as an international statesman and man of letters. His name is shorthand for the collapse of communism across Eastern Europe. Some remember the absurdist theater dramas that made him a dissident in the first place. The rest of us find out from Wikipedia.
“Leaving” is an adaptation of Havel’s only play since he left Prague Castle, a bitter comedy about a politician stepping down from office. Havel has said time and again that the play is not autobiographical. It just happens to be the story of a beloved leader leaving office penned by a beloved leader shortly after leaving office.
As such, the film is in a schizophrenic battle with itself. In his script, Havel makes fun of his reputation as a lady’s man, casts his current wife, actress Dagmar Havlová, as the protagonists common-law wife, drops his own name and gives himself a cameo. Write what you know, I guess.
We meet former Chancellor Vilem Rieger (Josef Abrahám), his family and courtiers at Rieger’s official residence. Rieger laments to a reporter (Jiří Macháček) that cynicism has infected politics. His concerns turn quickly to the impending loss of his beloved villa, which the country’s new leaders insist he vacate. Family and advisers prove to be false friends. Rieger sells out to the new powers, and everyone rides off in a stagecoach.
Stangled by theatrical roots
Maybe it’s only a coincidence, but Abrahám plays Rieger as a fair approximation of Havel, down to the thinning mustache. Otherwise he is far too lifeless. Even in a romantic scene with a young temptress (Barbora Seidlová), he barely distinguishes himself from the furniture. His best is a tempest scene lifted from “King Lear” that may make viewers regret they hadn’t gone out for Shakespeare.
Or any play, because that’s what “Leaving” is — and a talky one at that. Havel has fallen victim to the delusion among Czech directors that movies are filmed theater. Blame David Mamet’s successful film adaptations or Louis Malle’s “Vanya on 42nd Street.” The world of “Leaving” ends like a stage, at the backdrop. All the action takes place between villa and gazebo opposite, with exception of a repeated establishing shot featuring Říp hill (more on this in a moment).
Considering that the importance of the villa to the plot, you would think Havel could take us inside. Even Petr Zelenka’s “The Karamazov Brothers” (Karamazovi) and Pavel Göbl’s “Rail Yard Blues” (Ještě žiju s věšákem, plácačkou a čepicí), both adaptations from the stage, used live locations to their advantage. Havel could have used canvas and cardboard without losing much production value.
Fans of Havel the playwright will recognize the similarity of “Leaving” to his other, pre-November 1989 plays. But anyone searching for Havel’s views on public policy, economics or civil society will find only banalities and absurdist nonsense. The film’s only comment on politics is that it turns decent people into scoundrels. Who knew the former president was so bitter?
“Leaving” makes no reference to communism or dissidents. Government thugs in leather trench coats arrest Rieger, but the film otherwise steers clear of events in the author’s life. More’s the pity. One advantage to adapting the play for the big screen would be to help it reach foreign audiences. The film’s main appeal for viewers abroad is the identity of its director and screenwriter — the Havel brand, if you will.
I ♥ Havel?
The filmmakers plainly knew what their assets were. Throughout the film we see a heart motif, modeled on the heart that Havel frequently added to his signature. It appears on Rieger’s hat, a laptop computer, as a necklace, a balloon and a tattoo. This visual in-joke reminds viewers that this is “The Havel Movie,” in case they were distracted by, say, a train running over their legs.
Likewise the use of Říp mentioned above: Říp is the film’s only clue (aside from the language the characters speak) that the events of the film take place in the Czech Republic. Foreigners might assume the location to be Ruritania — the fictional Central European country invented for “The Prisoner of Zenda.” But Czech audiences immediately recognize the solitary hill in the Bohemian flatland where, legend has it, the Czech people first settled. The significance of the hill and the heart, for that matter, is lost on anyone not familiar with local folklore.
That said, “Leaving” is sadly no worse than many Czech films and has some good in it. Jaroslav Dušek and Miroslav Krobot are excellent as Rieger’s political nemesis and gardener, respectively. Havlová is fearless in her overstuffed purple gown. Ivana Uhlírová demonstrates perfect comic timing in her fleeting appearances as Rieger’s daughter Zuzana.
But visually the film is all costumes and stage business. Oldřich Kaiser does a particularly hammy thing with his rattail that could annoy audiences from 50 kilometers away. The camera does little that theater-goers’ eyes can’t do. Cinematographer Jan Malíř’s use of soft focus only reminds viewers how tired they are. Hopefully Michal Pavlicek’s jazzy guitar soundtrack is meant as a joke.
Havel the playwright stands taller than Havel the filmmaker. The latter appears to be a celebrity dilettante because he and some wealthy friends thought it would be fun. No doubt it was.
It might even be profitable. Bontonfilm is shrewdly releasing “Leaving” in what may be the deadest week at cinemas all year. Only three films open March 24: “Leaving,” tween fodder “Mars Needs Moms!”and Neil Burger’s B-list thriller “Limitless.” Local audiences have little reason to stay away. Unless maybe they’ve already seen the play.
Leaving (Odcházení)
Directed by Václav Havel
Screenplay By Václav Havel
Produced By Buc Film — Jaroslav Bouček
Starring: Josef Abrhám, Dagmar Havlová, Jiří Macháček, Tatiana Vilhelmová, Eva Holubová, Stanislav Zindulka, Oldřich Kaiser, Jiří Lábus, Jiří Bartoška, Josef Polášek
www.havelodchazeni.cz
Theodore Schwinke is the Eastern European correspondent for Screen International
