Personal Info
Birth date
1936-10-05 (88 Years)
Day of death
2011-12-18
Gender
Male
Known for
Acting
Place of birth
Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]
Also known as
-Václav Havel
Biography
Václav Havel (5 October 1936 – 18 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on 31 December 1992 and then as the first president of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003. He was the first democratically elected president of either country after the fall of communism. As a writer of Czech literature, he is known for his plays, essays, and memoirs.
Filmography
The Lost World of Communism
6
Overview:
The Lost World of Communism is a three-part British documentary series which examines the legacy of Communism twenty years on from the fall of the Berlin Wall. Produced by Peter Molloy and Lucy Hetherington, the series takes a retrospective look at life behind the Iron Curtain between 1945 and 1989, focusing on three countries in the Eastern Bloc - East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania. Through film and television footage and the personal recollections of those who lived in these countries, the series offers a glimpse of what daily life was like during the years of Communist rule. The Lost World of Communism debuted on BBC Two on Saturday 14 March 2009 at 9:00pm. There is also a book which accompanies the series.Zappa
7.27
Overview:
With the help of more than 10,000 dedicated Zappa fans, this is the long-awaited definitive documentary project of Alex Winter documenting the life and career of enigmatic groundbreaking rock star Frank Zappa. Alex also utilizes in this picture thousands of hours of painstakingly digitized videos, photos, audio, writing, and everything in between from Zappa's private archives. These chronicles have never been brought to a public audience before, until now.Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
7.3
Overview:
Utilizing potent TV interviews and many forgotten performances from his 30-year career, we are immersed into Frank Zappa’s world while experiencing two distinct facets of his complex character. At once Zappa was both a charismatic composer who reveled in the joy of performing and, in the next moment, a fiercely intelligent and brutally honest interviewee whose convictions only got stronger as his career ascended.Czech Made Man
6.9
Overview:
The movie is based on the narrative of a Czech multimillionaire who achieved success not by stripping companies, making crooked deals and crony-ism, but by blazing his own trail like Schweikesque self-made man. He realizes early on that he has nobody but himself to rely on. During the totalitarian regime of the 80s, he ambles along his oddball path and then experiences the Velvet Revolution atypically, too - in an asylum amidst nut-cases. After the Revolution, he really gets rolling. To Germany and back. To prison and back. To China and back. The intriguing and endless opportunities afforded by the Internet eventually blossom into virtual prosperity. The hero has everything and is even planning a highly unorthodox family. A happy ending is nigh, until everything goes up in smoke, of course...Forman vs. Forman
7.8
Overview:
A moving account, in his own words, of the personal life and work of the brilliant Czech filmmaker Miloš Forman (1932-2018): his tragic childhood, his major contribution to the cultural movement known as the Czech New Wave, his exile in Paris, his troubled days in New York, his rise to stardom in Hollywood; a complete existence in the service of cinema.The Power of Good: Nicholas Winton
9
Overview:
A gripping documentary about the courage and determination of a young English stockbroker who saved the lives of 669 children. Between March 13 and August 2, 1939, Nicholas Winton organized 8 transports to take children from Prague to new homes in Great Britain, and kept quiet about it until his wife discovered a scrapbook documenting his unique mission in 1988. Winton was a successful 29-year-old stockbroker in London who "had an intuition" about the fate of the Jews when he visited Prague in 1939. He quietly but decisively got down to the business of saving lives. We learn how only two countries, Sweden and Britain, answered his call to harbor the young refugees; how documents had to be forged and how once foster parents signed for the children on delivery, that was the last he saw of them.Wisdom
6
Overview:
Inspired by the idea that the greatest gift one generation can give to another is the wisdom it has gained from experience, 'Wisdom' seeks to create a record of a group of people over the age of 65 who have all made their mark on the world.Largo Desolato
NYR
Overview:
A fictionalized autobiographical play written by Czechoslovakian playwright-turned-president Vaclav Havel in 1984 upon his release from a four-and-one-half-year prison term for political subversion. The play focuses on two days in the life of a dissident writer who is awaiting the knock at the door that may send him to prison.What Is to Be Done? A Journey from Prague to Ceský Krumlov, or How I Formed a New Government
NYR
Overview:
Quite a few years have passed since November 1989. Czechoslovakia has been divided up and, in the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus’s right-wing government is in power. Karel Vachek follows on from his film New Hyperion, thus continuing his series of comprehensive film documentaries in which he maps out Czech society and its real and imagined elites in his own unique way.Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart
7
Overview:
An incredible retracing of the evolution of Reed's remarkable career over three decades. Filled with interviews with Reed, his friends and some of the major artists influenced by Reed including David Bowie, David Byrne, Patti Smith, Suzanne Vega, Dave Stewart, Philip Glass and more. Production Notes, Biographies, Discography, Scene Access, Screen Test, Rare Velvet FootageThe Beggar's Opera
4.333
Overview:
Unlike any other opera, the so-called Beggar's Opera is not just one composition, but a lineage of adapted compositions, beginning with the original hugely successful 1728 political satire written by Englishman John Gay. Composers and writers have penned variations on it ever since. The most famous of these was A Threepenny Opera by Bertholt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Some things these compositions share in common is their setting among the poor and criminal classes, and the roguish character Macheath. This production is based on an adaptation of Gay's original by Vaclav Havel the freedom-fighter, writer and philosopher who became the first (and only) president of the united post-communist country of Czechoslovakia, and it retains many traces of its theatrical origins. Film reviewers were not too tolerant of what they called "slavish adherence" to the noted Czech writer's stage production, but theater, philosophy and history buffs may feel otherwise.Bohemia Docta or the Labyrinth of the World and the Lust-House of the Heart (A Divine Comedy)
NYR
Overview:
A labyrinthine portrait of Czech culture on the brink of a new millennium. Egon Bondy prophesies a capitalist inferno, Jim Čert admits to collaborating with the secret police, Jaroslav Foglar can’t find a bottle-opener, and Ivan Diviš makes observations about his own funeral. This is the Czech Republic in the late 90s, as detailed in Karel Vachek’s documentary.Every Young Man
6.5
Overview:
Jurácek's feature debut is shot in two parts. In the first, a corporal accompanies a new recruit with a sore Achilles tendon for his physical, and all the girls or young women they see are played by the same actress (Ruzickova). In the longer second segment, shot with the help of the Czechoslovakia army, the soldiers pass the time during basic training and maneuvers by talking about girls.The Presence of Arnošt Lustig
NYR
Overview:
"A man is immortal as long as he lives in the memory of others,” said well-known Czech writer Arnošt Lustig with a wry smile. In December 2006 when her father turned 80, filmmaker Eva Lustigová began to see just how closely his words applied to himself personally. Her method involved recording their meetings and personal interviews together, until Lustig’s death in February 2011. Employing his notorious sense of humor, the film presents the world-renowned author as he recalls a carefree childhood cut short by the Nazi occupation, the horror of life in a concentration camp, the beginnings of his writing career, living in Israel and the USA, and his lifelong friendship with Ota Pavel. Geneva-based Eva Lustigová’s documentary is not a traditional portrait compilation of a famous writer that chronologically investigates his life, but rather a loosely assembled, lively movie about a person with an eternal love for life as it is.Hammer & Tickle
7.4
Overview:
Hammer & Tickle: The Communist Joke Book is a 2006 propaganda documentary film about "jokes" under the Soviet Union.Sorry...
NYR
Overview:
Two TV Plays by Vaclav Havel, one called 'Audience', and one called 'Private View'.Mečiar: The Lust For Power
7
Overview:
The film Mečiar is the confession of the young director Tereza Nvotová about Vladimír Mečiar and the influence that this politician had on Slovak society, but also on the life of Tereza herself. When the totalitarian communist regime fell in Czechoslovakia in 1989, Tereza was one year old. The leaders of the Gentle Revolution then decided to hold an audition for the Minister of the Interior, to which Vladimír Mečiar, an unknown business lawyer from the Slovak countryside at the time, applied. After success in bankruptcy, Vladimír Mečiar reaches the political top, from where he rules the country with a series of questionable practices. Against the background of events such as the division of Czechoslovakia or the kidnapping of the son of the president of the Slovak Republic, Tereza and her peers relive their childhood.Odcházení
5.6
Overview:
A bitter sweet comedy that follows a highly appointed Chancellor who set to step down from his position after years of service to his country. With just two last days left to enjoy his palatial villa before he is finally evicted, his situation gradually goes from bad to worse.Late Night Talks with Mother
NYR
Overview:
Taking a cue from Franz Kafka's "Letter to My Father," this highly personal film follows Czech director Jan Nemec as he attempts to engage in a dialogue with his deceased mother. While alive, Nemec's mother had a troubled relationship with her son; this rumination seems to be Nemec's public platform for coming to terms with unresolved familial issues. The director embellishes his film by linking personal events with 20th century history.A znovu Žebrácká opera
NYR
Overview:
Two different productions of Václav Havel's Beggar's Opera reveal the political dynamics of Czechoslovakia before and after the velvet revolution.Curious: The Velvet Underground in Europe
NYR
Overview:
Spotlights the Velvet Underground's 1993 reunion tour of Europe, interspersing footage of the band's Paris concert and interviews with the members of the group. Concerts in Prague and Berlin included.Heart Beat 3D
NYR
Overview:
A visual dreamscape of Prague streets, a hallucinatory vision of a world from the operating table for robotic heart surgeries, collaged together with the stories narrated by the mysterious Dr. B, who is a gifted surgeon at the centre of a conspiracy and a criminal ring trafficking in human parts, especially hearts. Because that’s where the world has ended up – humans thirsting for endless lives and shadowy businessmen and dealmakers taking advantage of this hunger. Set to original music by Němec’s student and fellow filmmaker Petr Marek and his band Midi Lidi, the rich soundscape of the film creates a distinct counterpart to the freewheeling visuals shot digitally in 3D. The former Czech president Václav Havel makes an appearance in the film recalling a script he wrote in the 1960s with Němec, his distant cousin, which the present film utilises as a reflecting surface.Acting
2024Zánik Československa v parlamentu as Self
2024Havel Speaking, Can You Hear Me? as Self (archive footage)
2023Ján Langoš – strážca pamäti as Self (archive footage)
2022Elizabeth II: Three days in the Czech Republic as Self (archive footage)
2020Zappa as Self - President of Czechoslovakia (archive footage)
2019Forman vs. Forman as Self - Friend (archive footage)
2018Rolling Stones – Hearts for Prague as Self
2017Mečiar: The Lust For Power as Unknown
2016Jak odchází prezident... as Self (archive footage)
2016Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words as Self (archive footage)
2014Život podle Václava Havla as Himself (archive footage)
2014Olga as Self
2012Věra 68 as Himself
2012The Presence of Arnošt Lustig as Self
2011I am Fishead as himself
2011Czech Made Man as jako host
2010Eye Over Prague as Unknown
2010Life Is Bearable at Times... as Unknown
2009The Lost World of Communism (3 Episodes) as Unknown
2009Václav Havel : L'éternel insurgé as lui-même
2008Anatomie gagu as Unknown
2008Wisdom as Unknown
2008Občan Havel as Self
2007Hammer & Tickle as Self (archive footage)
2006Citizen Vaclav Havel Goes on Vacation as Unknown
2003The Power of Good: Nicholas Winton as Self
2003Late Night Talks with Mother as Václav Havel
2001The Plastic People of the Universe as Self
2000Bohemia Docta or the Labyrinth of the World and the Lust-House of the Heart (A Divine Comedy) as Unknown
1998Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart as Self
1996Stone Bridge as President
1996What Is to Be Done? A Journey from Prague to Ceský Krumlov, or How I Formed a New Government as Self
1996A znovu Žebrácká opera as Self
1995Drawn from Memory as Self (voice)
1995Goldene Henne (1 Episode) as Self
1993Curious: The Velvet Underground in Europe as Self
1993Vaclav Havel, ein böhmisches Märchen as Self
1992New Hyperion or Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood as Self
1991Why Havel? as Václav Havel
1991November's Children: Revolution in Prague as Unknown
1990TGM the Liberator as Self
1981The Stock-Check as Unknown
1968Czechoslovakia: Portrait of a Tragedy as Self
1966An Occasion to Speak as Self
1966Every Young Man as trpěliví
1966Mlha as Unknown
Writing
2023Blue Moon Once ... Writer
2010Heart Beat 3D ... Writer
1994Mlýny ... Writer
1991The Beggar's Opera ... Screenplay, Theatre Play
1991Redevelopment ... Writer
1990Largo Desolato ... Theatre Play
1990Audience ... Theatre Play
1989Why Are You So Sad? ... Writer
1987Pétition ... Writer
1981Protest ... Writer
1981Audiens ... Theatre Play
1978Sorry... ... Writer
Directing
2011Odcházení ... Director