"a film by Pavel Koutecky" "citizen HAVEL" "Now that I'm running for president they want to look back at my previous presidency." "There's room enough for self-analysis in essays." "But you must hide it during public appearances." "I don't mean lying but telling it in more black-and-white terms." "You shouldn't just analyze the things that went wrong." "You mention your successes too, but you're too modest." "You give the media something, but just slip it under the door." "But be careful, Vaclav." "Like when I ate Dyula's dinner." "Dyula's our dog, and I ate her dinner by mistake." "They once asked what the Czech president's main aim should be." "And you gave a great answer:" "You said:" "To contribute to political stability and gain international respect for the new country." "Period." "You could have written pages, but that was exactly right!" "That was a huge compromise with who I am." "I was ashamed. I blushed when I wrote that answer." "Great book. I've read it and appreciate what you're doing." "This anti-static brush cleans and brushes the material at once." "That's nice of you but I can't have a beer with you just now." "I couldn't find anything better." "I hope you don't mind." "Mr. President can I give you this mistletoe for good luck?" "Thank you, you're very kind." "Mr. President, come for a visit." "We're so fond of you." "We live only for you." "Even here in Slovakia you've been and still are a symbol of the moral continuity that you brought into politics." "Don't you feel that, as President of Czechoslovakia, you suffered a kind of defeat?" "Most people, especially in the West, will see your Czech presidency not as a sacrifice or a challenge but as an inability to resist temptation." "Maybe." "Some people will suspect me of craving the perks of power but what's more important is how I myself see it and I hope that will reflect itself in my work and those who mistrust me now will see this and share my feelings." "Every day, the papers attack me for being a romantic dreamer, an idealist, a loudmouth who doesn't understand how politics actually works in democracies, who keeps preaching and searching for new ways to do things even though it's all been tried before." "I read these things every day and I take them as a challenge to return to politics and continue doing what I was doing before." "What's all this jumping about?" "You must be nuts." "Vlada, do you have a comb?" "This shirt is a bit tight." "I'll unbutton it when it's over." "These ties are more interesting." "Screw it." "Shouldn't I wear the other jacket?" "This one's too small." "I've accepted the candidacy and will run for Czech President and I'm prepared to outline my views of the presidency to all political parties." "This will be in tomorrow's papers." ""l could be elected in the third round."" "This is the last weekend before the first Czech presidential election." "Members of the Government, guests." "Thank you for the trust you have placed in me by electing me the first President of the Czech Republic." "There was a mistake:" "You should thank Parliament." "The Government didn't elect you." "Right, the Government and the guests didn't elect me." "I would like to thank Parliament for electing me the first President of the Czech Republic." "The first version was nicer." "You thanked them for their trust." "Didn't I say that?" "Only in the first version." "Once more:" "Mr. Speaker, members of Parliament..." "Where will you be standing?" "If they put you in a bad spot..." "Stand up straight, pull your tummy in, coat buttoned like a soldier." "It's on TV." "Everyone's watching." "I am ready to work hard each day to earn my fellow-citizens' trust." "I would like to be a good president." "You have to look at the audience." "Don't look down at the lecturn." "lt's a bad habit that..." "You know what would be good?" "If you introduce Vaclav as the new president and he recites a poem." "l haven't recited poetry for ages." "Give it a shot, then." "On the Otava river Raft after raft" "Floating away through Springs and summers" "Passing those borne by the mountains And we watched them go away." "Oh, silver wind..." "How does it go?" "Blessed is the nook where you..." "...first precipitously blew." "And I know also this one, listen:" "High mountains, capped in ice inspire me not to raise my voice" "Yet when I see a low hill rise From a broad and empty plain" "Capped by clouds of shining white My heart stops in my throat." "Oh mother, how fine it is to roam This land that we call home." "That's a different poem, isn't it?" "It's 2pm." "The government coalition has chosen a new candidate." "This is the Czech Radio with the latest news." "The Czech Parliament will elect a new president today." "There are three candidates:" "Vaclav Havel, nominated by the government coalition," "Marie Stiborova by the Left Block, Miroslav Sladek by the Republicans." "Vaclav Havel may have vacated the Castle and played possum but the havoc wreaked by his so-called humanitarian policies has been incalculable." "His sleazy, oddball advisers are still around to haunt us along with this phantom autocrat in cap and bells, this megalomaniac, this neurotic artist, this playwright and former spokesman for Charter 77, whom even Charter 77 has disavowed." "Worst of all, he was responsible for the destruction of our beloved country, Czechoslovakia." "If we want what's left of it to become a rubbish pit for the rest of Europe to dump its Gypsies into..." "Gypsies!" "...then let this be our destiny." "We once appointed a king who ran from the battlefield before the battle began." "Do we really want such a king again?" "We elected Vaclav Havel once and it was the end of Czechoslovakia." "Elect him again, and it will be the end of the Czech people." "It reminds me when Vaclav was in jail and a TV announcer spoke about the crimes Vaclav had committed and I felt so powerless, listening to those ugly accusations." "And this is very similar." "lt's worse: this is a free society." "You must think twice about how far you can go." "You can be critical, but this?" "This is straight from the sewer." "It's full lies and insinuations." "That's why I compare it to those communist times when they accused Vaclav of many different things and I just sat helplessly watching TV or reading the papers." "There was no one to complain to, no way I could defend him." "I never thought that one day I'd be in a position to use a cliché and call it shameful theatrics." "We're coming to you live again from the Czech Parliament." "Mr. Vaclav Havel has been elected President of the Czech Republic." "To the health of the new Czech President!" "Vaclav, can I at least be the first to clink glasses with you?" "Yet another misfortune for us..." "Yes, you've had your fair share..." "How do you have the nerves for it?" "l don't." "Well then, see you, bye." "Break a leg!" "Vaclav Havel is entering the hall." "The first one to congratulate Mr. Havel is Premier Vaclav Klaus." "No more camaraderie..." "Now there's going to be order!" "They can't get rid of me now!" "This is the scene outside Parliament right after Vaclav Havel's election." "Can we go, then?" "is there any dandruff on me?" "Let's go." "Let me read a quotation from a play I wrote 22 years ago." "The natural disadvantage of democracy is that it binds the hands of those who take it seriously while allowing those who don't take it seriously to do almost anything they want." "I'll wait there." "You let him lead the cremony." "Are my trousers too short again?" "Where's my coat?" "We've got to inspect the troops." "Where's mine?" "Tonda has it." "And where's Tonda?" "And the General should be here, and the Minister of Defence..." "The General is here." "What happened?" "l'm reporting for duty." "I'm afraid we'll fall on our asses on that ice." "Minister, we must be careful not to fall on our asses." "They didn't clear it properly." "We'll have to walk carefully." "Long live Havel!" "Long live Havel!" "is this all the staff we have?" "All women, that's good." "Thank you for your warm welcome, I'm here again, as you see." "Now the work begins." "It'll be different now for lots of reasons, not just because the country got smaller." "We were so anxious to meet you we wandered around in circles in this enchanted castle And we've finally met." "That's a good omen." "So thank you." "Good luck, then." "Thanks." "Back to work again." "Strange." "Where did I put my..." "Oh, here they are." "There are a couple of things for you to do." "I'll give my talk here, a kind of explanation, right?" "Then I'll come over here and draw something, say a few words." "When I'm done, your first job is to wipe the board." "The hardest part however is hanging this up over there." "And here's what bothers me:" "A young lady does all the work while the man just watches her." "But then, it's not appropriate for me to drag this around." "You have to take it like this and hang it there by the string." "Maybe like this." "The thing is how do we put it there and take it off." "lf it's me or you or both of us." "l can handle it." "Alone?" "Yes." "But I'll help you." "Hello." "This represents the President and this is the Castle Council, about ten people." "I'll put up another chart later on that will show the Department for Administration and Development." "It's supposed to become an independent organization." "Wasn't it totally absurd, then?" "No, far from it." "But I do think it could have been more detailed if each department head had said something about his job." "If we'd had three days we might have covered everything." "I hope the staff can explain all the problems they have and make them clear to the members of Parliament." "Now we'll go past this shed, crawl through that hole in the fence and go into the garden." "It's good, that music." "They need to pipe water up here, otherwise nothing will grow." "We pay so much money for this." "The neighbourhood kids come here and steal the crops." "Why don't you have running water?" "I've no idea." "We start planting in March, so what can we do?" "They say it's going to be closed." "Well, something must be done." "We've had these gardens 40 years." "You'll get another, but it'll be 20 years before anything happens." "So can we start planting?" "You'll get plenty of warning." "Thank you." "Mr. President, please, make sure the legislation gets passed." "It's awful, help us, please." "We're just little farts down here." "We have no influence and it's time something got done." "It's not just the legislation, but also the conflicts of interest." "It's hard to explain to our people how a minister or an MP can buy state property and resell it." "We all supported the revolution but it's getting out of hand." "We've put you where you are so please help us." "I pay attention to these problems, that's why I travel around, visiting different factories institutions and schools." "I just ask questions and let others do the talking so that I'm aware of all this and can take it into account in my policies and actions." "But we're entering an era of stable democracy with a certain separation of powers." "I'm not an all-powerful leader who controls everything, right?" "Now I'll do something for you." "I'm using the smallest fonts." "It's unreadable. I'll enlarge it." "Mr. Koutecky has paid me a visit." "A lot depends on the climate of the time." "In 1990, in an atmosphere of general enthusiasm I did things I couldn't do today." "The public wouldn't take it." "It's hard to find the right balance." "We have this strange tradition." "The President should always wear a kind of a halo." "And to some extent it's a legitimate need because it demonstrates people's loyalty to the country, their respect for its institutions." "You must accept that, not mock it." "On the other hand someone who has never been a puppet can't pretend that he is one, right?" "He wouldn't be himself." "The right balance isn't easy." "Whatever I do, some will say:" "it's not the same old Havel." "He used to be this happy fellow in a sweater." "Others say:" "He doesn't behave like a president." "He should know better." "He's still like an eternal little boy." "Hallo?" "Hallo?" "Probably a wrong number." "The Bosnian president Alia lzetbekovitch called upon the Security Council to help the besieged Muslims in Mostar." "I'm going to unpack." "And where will they go, Olga?" "Olga, where are we going to put these carpets?" "Where are they supposed to go?" "To Prague." "To Prague?" "And the round ones stay here." "We have to take the puppies out for a pee." "Come here." "Hi little guys." "I asked you what to do with them." "And you said nothing." "You gave me no order." "You need orders for everything, don't you?" "We have to take them out a lot so they'll get used to the grass." "It's Tuesday, it's 3 pm and in Mr. Koutecky's presence we're having a working session." "The main item, and the thorniest, is Yeltsin's visit, right?" "Nothing has changed..." "The meeting will be in my office, I hope, not in some ceremonial..." "Yes... but it's actually in the Habsburg Hall because it's inappropriate for 50 Russian security men to occupy the President's office." "The Kremlin has a million rooms like that." "He won't be impressed." "I wanted to show him my office to demonstrate our close relations." "I meant the bigger office, okay?" "Mr. President, if you like, when the tete-a-tete begins, you can say" ""Boris Nikolayevich, come, I'd like to show you my office."" "For me, what's important is:" "First, I'll be at the airport." "Second, I will take him from the Habsburg Hall to my office." "And third, the walk through Prague and laying a wreath at the Radio." "is it going to happen or not?" "And fourth, is there a press conference with Yeltsin or not?" "President Yeltsin's only personal message so far is that he's really looking forward to having a beer." "We'll have a quick stand-up beer at a pub, no problem." "But can we manage to lay the wreath?" "That's more important than a beer." "Sure it is, but I can't see it happening right now." "It'll cause an awful traffic jam." "Where will Yeltsin make the announcement?" "That's important." "Either at the press conference or in front of the Radio building." "The Radio is much better." "Make sure microphones are ready and when he sees the list of those killed in the 1968 Soviet invasion" "he could improvise some remarks." "What do I say if the press asks me why the Czechs refused to sign the treaty?" "The foreign minister should be there." "Say it was drawn up quickly." "Essentially, it's not ready yet." "I'm President of truth, not of lies." "The treaty is ready to be signed." "I won't say that it isn't." "The government hasn't approved it." "Let them explain." "Sure." "As soon as Yeltsin leaves, I can say somewhere that my views differ from the government's." "But when Yeltsin is standing beside me at the press conference, I can't reveal that the government and I are at loggerheads." "I can't say: "Ask the government."" "The Foreign Minister will grumble, everyone will get mad and we'll look ridiculous." "A reporter might ask the Premier or the Foreign Minister about this." "But then we'd have to give Klaus and Zieleniec a heads-up." "Of course, they'd have to know." "Before it was closed Slavia was mostly a haunt for moneychangers, shady Arab traffickers, and people like that." "But a lot of students and old ladies used to go there as well." "Anyway, it's been pointlessly closed for three long years and this is a criminal attack on the intellectual life of Prague." "Silence!" "Performance in progress." "We've mentioned one woman, a poet, but other women went to Slavia too." "Did you notice any in particular?" "I'd like to mention one woman, my wife." "I worked in a lab and had a female colleague." "I was about fifteen and I invited her to Slavia to join me and my friends, 15-year-old intellectuals." "Later, she brought another friend, and we became friends." "And we stated dating and then we got married and now she's sitting in the fourth row." "I've decided to go back to the dissident era for a while so I brought a petition" "and I will ask the audience to sign it, if they wish." "It's less dangerous than signing the usual dissident petition and far less dangerous then signing Charter 77." "First let me read it to you." "We strongly protest the fact that for the past three years" "The Slavia café has been unreasonably and indefensibly closed to the public, that important and traditional meeting spot for intellectuals, students and the elderly." "We appeal to the the leaseholder to open it to the public at once." "As you can see, this book launch has had an unexpected ending." "I declare it over, and I wish you a good evening." "Mr. President, the hall will look a little better than it does now." "What's that rope for?" "So the musicians won't fall over." "Will that stop them?" "No, it's more of a mental barrier." "The hall will be properly lit." "What chairs will the musicians use?" "These ones are disgusting." "Mrs." "Blahova, can I ask you?" "Blanka, which chairs will the musicians sit on?" "The same ones as the audience." "Just as awful." "We don't have any others." "One day we'll have chairs designed by Sipek." "For now that's all we have." "And I'm supposed to give a speech at this ugly lectern?" "is there any other lectern, please?" "I'll have a nice new one some day, but not yet." "Where will the camera be?" "The main one's over there." "lt'll make me look this small." "No, you'll be normal, just like in your id." "I'll take out my glasses and the cards, then read the speech." "Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests." "75 years ago today, the people of the Czech lands, in harmony with the long efforts of their political leaders, rose up to declare an independent state." "The fish haul starts now." "Everyone come here!" "The girls in Brixen, Down on the square" "Whisper that Havlicek ls in prison there." "He said so well What we could only think" "He was a handsome guy That's why he's in the clink." "And thanks to the the letter Of the law of the sword" "You've got time to think of law Havlicek, Havel..." "Klaus thinks that we don't have to join NATO and we can't let foreign armies train on our territory." "It would cost a lot of money and besides, no one's threating us." "You know his views." "He's just being provocative." "In the end he promised to respect the official Czech policy." "We've discussed relations with our neighbours and I've laid out my concerns about our neighbour's worries that Czechs are being labeled destructive, selfish people who tend their own little gardens and reject anything that might show a willingness to cooperate with others." "It reflects the state of the nation." "A small-minded, provincial clique has taken power and it's repeating the mistakes of pre-war Czech politics." "It's essentially a petty bourgeois mentality, right?" "Maybe Klaus isn't necessarily petty bourgeois." "Maybe he's very cunning and recognizes that most people are petty bourgeoisie and he's cleverly riding that wave." "The problem for a politician is basically this:" "Should he aim for the average where most people stand and "average" always means "below average"" "or should he try to do something with that society?" "That's the essential difference and Klaus won't go there." "After some of Klaus's statements, which I'll get to in a moment, I decided to be at least a tenth as rude as he can be though he uses polite words." "We went through the program and he said:" ""So you're going to the jazz club with Clinton." "And I'm not invited." "I, who've been going to Reduta to listen to jazz all my life."" "He let on he was deeply hurt." "He assumed I would say - and being polite, I really did want to say - "All right, come with us."" "But I held back and didn't do it." "I said nothing." "So I'm going to the club with Clinton and Klaus won't be there." "Maybe I will invite him in the end, but..." "Will Clinton go if he's in mourning?" "He wants to play blues for his mum." "That's part of the mourning." "Or he won't." "We don't know." "Anyway I consider this a great achievement." "I overcame my politeness and did not invite Klaus." "You're a true minimalist." "I've got something for you." "lt's the saxophone." "Oh, that's cool." "So golden?" "I didn't know they made them like this." "Oh, it's so lovely, so golden." "Isn't it a pity, when he plays so seldom?" "But then they'll film it." "Does he know what all those buttons are for?" "And do you just blow into it, or is there a special way to do it?" "It's not making any sounds." "Must be a piece of junk." "I will introduce you." "It's clear from the briefing notes that anyone who goes to Romania gets the same doctorate as me." "Today, four-and-half years after I first said it, many Czechs are angry with me because love and truth haven't yet prevailed over lies and hatred, and they hold me responsible." "Those who complain that the promise remains unfulfilled have turned this ideal into an illusion." "They feel the new democracy should have brought about the victory of love and truth and that by not doing so it has broken its promise." "I feel we have found ourselves in a state of longing for illusion or for life within illusion." "That is why so many new illusions crop up and spread rapidly to fill the gap, and why so many new leaders emerge who pretend to be guarantors of their one-dimensional visions." "No one will provide the perfect formula for human happiness." "And no one can." "There are, however, enough lights to show us the way." "We must only keep an eye out for them, around us and within us." "If I may, I would like to end this speech a little provocatively:" "Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred." "Hello Prague." "Welcome to the Voodoo Lounge." "The final results of the election have confirmed that the ruling right-wing coalition has lost its parliamentary majority." "Vaclav Havel has started to hold separate meetings with the leaders of the four main parties." "Well, let's stay in touch." "Klaus has asked me to announce that I've decided to entrust him, as leader of the ODS, to negotiate with its partners about forming a new coalition." "I think it's awfully premature." "He offered a very intelligent analysis of the situation and I understand why he wants me to say this." "The diabolical trap in his request is that once you entrust the job to a single person then he has a mandate from you to speak and act on his own." "I'll wait and see what the other two have to say and we'll be the wiser." "I almost got hit on the nose." "Goodbye." "Lux wouldn't make a bad premier." "He's easier to deal with than Klaus." "Now the statement is evolving." "The newest version is as follows:" "After today's meetings I have decided to entrust the Civic Demoractic Party, not Klaus, but the whole party which won more seats than any other, to begin preliminary talks, through its leader, about forming a possible coalition and to keep me informed." "It's still wrong and premature." "It's a blank check." "You can't do it." "We'll write a new version of the statement but I'm running out of paper." "Would you accept the following version?" "I have called upon the curent coalition parties to form a minority coalition and enter into negotiations for possible support from your party that received the second most votes." "This statement would..." "Mr. President, if you accept my suggestion of an interim step then, with a heavy heart, I'll accept your formulation." "But I honestly think this interim step is necessary." "You can't let Vaclav Klaus approve everything you say." "This dispute over who is the teacher and who the pupil takes us right back, thank God, to the Velvet Revolution." "For God's sake, don't let him approve everything you say." "Come up with a statement you think is reasonable." "Before you decide, let me suggest this formulation:" "I have decided to invite to a round-table discussion the heads of all four parties and to hear their views on the current political situation." "This statement doesn't bind you to anything." "It simply puts off your decision and your announcement by a day." "Even God took seven days to create the world and no one expects you to break His record." "Yes." "Sure, I can say I've decided to invite them for a meeting but they will be taken by surprise because we haven't discussed it." "I've just spoken to Kalvoda and he'll agree to the meeting." "If we call Lux, he'll agree too." "I suggest I'll call Klaus first because it seems to me that... I've spoken with you and you've spoken with Kalvoda." "I have to at least give Klaus and Lux a heads-up before I invite them publicly." "What if they're busy or can't come?" "In my opinion it's time to show a firm hand and renew the authority you had in the Civic Forum days." "You won't get another chance." "If you ask them for permission to invite them, it will only show that presidential authority has been reduced." "A president doesn't ask if he may invite someone, a president issues invitations, Mr. President." "I have to call Klaus." "Not because I need his approval but to let him know before he hears about it on TV." "It really would be a little unfair." "What's unfair about it?" "President Masaryk once said that democracy is discussion." "It might be inspiring for you to listen, without prejudice, to the four party leaders talking in front of you." "Why pass up this opportunity?" "It's a unique chance." "And it's your God-given right." "Masaryk would have done it, Mr. President." "Can you give me one more shot of Becherovka?" "No, I meant your filmmaker." "Oh, I'm sorry." "l know how to pour a drink, too." "Thanks." "Do you know how much of this we drank on the bus?" "The election bus ran on two fuels." "Diesel and Becherovka." "There are only four reporters outside." "That's a good sign." "Maybe I won't have to announce anything." "The Premier will call." "Where will it ring?" "In the kitchen." "I'm trying the mobile phones." "This is the Office of the President." "The President is waiting to talk with Mr. Klaus." "Can you put me through to Mr. Klaus right away?" "You can't?" "Okay, I'll hang up and you tell the Premier to call us." "Thank you." "Yes?" "It was hard to get through." "There's a ton of reporters waiting." "Listen, things have gotten a little tricky." "Zeman's come up with a completely new condition." "He wants all the four leaders to meet in my office at the Castle." "But I don't want to tell the media because it would block his support." "God be with us." "Bye." "After today's meetings between Vaclav Havel and the four leaders it's not yet known who the President will ask to form a new government." "It's essentially a party for my friends." "I know them all which means I'm not exposed to any danger." "And also my friends would hate to be manhandled or pushed away or whatever you do to people you don't know." "You can trust them all." "Later on, some will get plastered and start hugging me or hitting me and at that point you might need to step in politely." "Let ministers mingle with the underground." "My birthday parties always bring improbably people together." "I'll need a place to put the presents people will bring me." "Mr." "President!" "Andulka, you've come too!" "And now I'll talk and talk..." "Oh, you brought so many gifts!" "And the bodyguard will be here, yes?" "President Vaclav Havel will be undergoing surgery." "The surgery is necessary to complete the diagnosis of his lung ailment." "The President's operation began after 9 am." "Doctors think they've caught the tumor in its early stages." "They're pleased with the outcome and forsee no complications." "According to chief surgeon Pafko it's impossible to say if the cancer was caused by smoking." "Havel cut back to three or four cigarettes a day before the surgery." "The President had a last cigarette with the Minister of Health." "President Havel's health has worsened." "Vaclav Havel's friend, Dasa Veskrnova, ls at the hospital every day to support the President." "Sources say it's thanks to her the cancer was discovered in time." "Good evening." "Our top story:" "rumours that President Havel is getting married in the next few days." "His wife-to-be is the actress Dagmar Veskrnova." "The news was confirmed today by the President's Office but the details are being kept strictly confidential." "The President, Dasa, Tana and Mr. Triska will enter the garage." "Those four and I will get into the Mercedes." "The garage door is locked." "No one can film anything." "We can pile in undignified, there won't be any witnesses." "Tonda, sorry to interrupt you but since we're being undignified, can't Nina sit on someone's lap?" "Only on mine." "Of course she can." "Can I sit in front?" "Of course." "And everyone else can squeeze onto various laps in the back." "The car will leave the garage if we manage to open the gate." "It's been stuck shut for two weeks." "This car is so powerful we could take the gate with us." "So great was their love that it broke down fences and gates!" "Dear Dagmar Veskrnova." "Dear Vaclav Havel." "It is a real honour to welcome you today at our town hall." "I am glad, Mr. Havel, that you have once more found a woman who has inspired love in you." "I firmly believe, Ms. Veskrnova, that as you stood by Mr. Havel during his serious illness you will stand by him in the joys and sorrows of his personal life and also when he is called upon, to make important decisions" "as a true moral authority, for the people of our country." "Vaclav Havel, do you freely take Dagmar Veskrnova to be your wife?" "l do." "Thank you." "Dagmar Veskrnova, do you freely take Vaclav Havel to be your husband?" "l do." "Thank you." "Cheers to you." "I'd like to mention that many decades ago I married my first wife here lt was the same arrangement:" "two newly-weds, two witnesses and the officiator." "I've stayed true to the tradition." "We looked it up, lt was July 9th, 1964." "We managed to keep it a secret because I wasn't President then." "Olga was with me for almost 45 years." "I'd like to say that she is and will remain forever an irreplaceable and essential part of my soul." "Before she died, Olga advised me to remarry." "I rejected the idea and was determined to remain single." "She was convinced, however, that I could't and should't live alone." "Of course she was right." "And life itself proved her right when it brought Dasa to me." "I did not marry Dasa to replace Olga, but because we realized that we love each other and want to live together." "Could you propose a toast?" "On behalf of the President I would like to wish everyone here a Happy New Year, and especially to him and his new wife, if I'm allowed to know that now," "I wish all the best in your life to come." "I hope you get well soon and bring order to the country." "The Czech economy is badly ailing and ministerial heads will roll." "Premier Klaus is getting ready to shuffle his cabinet." "I think, and maybe it's a bit of a metaphysical explanation, that it's punishment for pride." "The government has embraced an arrogant ideology." "They claim to know the key to prosperity." "It's analogous to communism." "They thought the same thing." "The clever ones - themselves - would run everything." "That's the analogy." "The key to prosperity is to let things run themselves." "We'll liberalize everything, let everyone look after himself, let business, not the state, run the economy." "The state should have no views, no policies of its own." "Just open it all up, step back, let it go and you'll see how well everything will work if we just leave things alone." "Where are the legislative mistakes?" "How is it that you can set up a new company every day and transfer billions from one to the other and no one can follow the money." "There's no control." "Why is it so easy to strip assets?" "You can learn how to do it in a single afternoon!" "Hi, come in, come join us." "Nice to meet you." "The government is in a situation where everything revolves around Premier Klaus's indecision." "He holds things up, puts things off, lays down more conditions." "I understand it." "He's afraid to make risky decisions." "But he's really slowing down the work of the government, and meanwhile, life goes rushing by." "Here's something that interests me." "Presidents are limited to one, or two terms at the most." "Then it's over." "That's proper." "But why doesn't it apply to others too?" "If Klaus knew he had four years in office and no more, imagine how many reforms he'd have brought in already?" "Why doesn't he do it?" "Because he wants to govern till the end of his days." "Long live our Czech Republic" "We sing it loud and clear" "We worship Daddy Masaryk" "But we'd rather do nothing at all." "Our government is full of vigor" "Teaching us how to ignore hunger" "We've got lots of brand new laws" "Modelled on the same old flaws." "Long live our Czech Republic" "We sing it loud and clear" "We worship Daddy Masaryk" "But we'd rather do nothing at all." "We, the characters of your plays, expect you to use your wealth of experience and write a brand new play." "If you decide to use some of your old characters we are here to serve you." "To that end, we have urged a couple of members of Parliament who aren't overly fond of you not to vote for you in the next presidential election." "First I'd like to speak about the pros of my running again." "There are a number of people who want me to be President." "Another argument in favour:" "over the next five years being president will be a very interesting job because decisions will be made about our place in Europe and the world that will stand for decades to come." "And for reasons of prestige it would be nice if someone who had spent five years in prison, who was hounded all his life by the communists, who dissolved the Warsaw Pact, were in office when this country becomes part of this" "relatively stable world." "I'm skeptical about the stability of the world we want to join." "Albania is a clear example." "Hundreds of officials in Brussels and elsewhere deal with Albania, they invest millions in it and don't know shit about the place!" "No one can advise you." "They know shit!" "Suddenly, overnight, there's a civil war in a European country and none of these officials can tell you what it means, none of them saw it coming, etc." "Anyway, I'm getting to the cons." "The important argument against is personal and psychological:" "I'm exhausted. I'm exhausted by the presidency, and by politics." "And unfortunately, it's probably starting to show in my work." "And I would hate to be a bad president." "I'm used to sacrificing many things for my country." "But now I wonder if this sacrifice will do more harm than good?" "I told him what I thought, he told me what he thought, and we'll each have to put it in our own words." "I urged him to start working with his partners now on a meaningful government program." "I said that shuffling the cabinet only makes sense if it's carefully thought out." "Otherwise it's nonsense." "The changes can't be cosmetic, they have to reflect policy changes and a more serious analysis of what came before." "It doesn't exclude the resignation of the entire government." "I'd put it like that, send a clear signal." "I said:" "If you don't sort this out, the only possibility is resignation." "And because Klaus always plays the teacher and editor he edited my statement into this:" "If an agreement can't be reached, other solutions must be sought." "I'm to say "other solutions" instead of "resignation."" "I wouldn't accept this, the media won't understand it and they'll ask you about it." "I certainly hope they will, because I'll say "other solutions" means "resignation."" "Mr. Spacek, will there be any questions?" "There will have to be." "How many?" "Three." "Not too many, three questions." "Storm clouds are gathering over Vaclav Klaus." "The leader of the Christian Democrats indicated today he no longer believes Klaus can lead the country out of the crisis." "Josef Lux said that Klaus's resignation is under discussion." "Mr. Medek, can you explain this beautiful new red carpet leading to your office while I still have this old puke-coloured communist carpet that I've been fighting for seven years to have removed?" "I can't explain it, don't understand it and strongly object." "Nice comeback." "Mr. Spacek, could I have a vase by Sipek standing beside me?" "People should get used to seeing Sipek's work around me as part of my style." "Some vases or chandeliers by him." "For this news report it's casting pearls." "It's subliminal, people should get used to the fact that Presidents have styles of their own." "Listen, the President wants a Sipek vase with flowers." "Yes, the tall one." "They can take it from my office." "It's right here." "This will do if they can't find anything else." "The flowers are starting to wilt but maybe no one will notice." "The papers have been full of articles about my mistakes lately." "I'm happy to speak about them and say the mistakes I made were different from the media myths." "Then I'd mention my real mistakes." "I'd like to talk about whether I legitimized Chemapol by selling them half of the Lucerna building." "In every article about me and my running for president they call it my biggest mistake, selling Lucerna to Chemapol and the conflicts with my sister-in-law that followed." "It's part of national mythology, and I can't just let it stand because when you let things go unchallenged, as we know, they become true." "It's as we felt guilty and said:" "Let's hush it up." "I don't feel guilty. I know it was the best thing I could do." "But the essence of this problem is something you can't explain, that Junek, the head of Chemapol, is a former communist agent." "That's the problem, not that you sold Lucerna." "The company operates legally and we all use their products every day." "Everyone legitimizes it and suddenly they start telling me I'm legitimizing it when I'm only trying to save Lucerna, because Chemopol's the only firm willing to invest a billion to restore Lucerna, which is falling apart." "Besides, Chemapol is one of the pillars of our economy." "I'm supposed to treat it like scum?" "In that case, our whole economy and the whole country are scum." "But you can't explain that." "I don't feel the slightest need to defend myself." "I feel the need to fight this petty Czech hypocrisy, and this is hypocrisy par excellence!" "Everyone voted for the communists, everyone's too clever by half!" "Everyone steals, and they take it out on Junek." "I'm their proxy conscience who mustn't shake hands with Junek who's evil incarnate." "Their evil!" "He's their proxy bad guy and I'm their proxy conscience." "That's so askew, so off the mark." "That's what pisses me off." "It would be shame if the only result was a headline "Havel defends Junek"" "and other things get ignored." "Your answer should be very brief:" "Wait to see what Chemapol does." "But they might ask you about the presidential amnesty." "I'll say I plan to set every single prisoner free." "It's pointless trying to give you advice." "Can we go?" "Are we going or not?" "Wait." "I haven't told you what I'm going to announce." "Once again I faced the decision about whether to run for the presidency or not." "This time the decision was extremely difficult." "But as before, my sense of public responsibility prevailed, my feeling that I have an obligation to put service for all above my own personal comfort." "That's why I have decided to stand for president again." "President Havel gave a speech today in the Rudolfinum hall." "He was highly critical of the past five years in Czech politics." "We behaved like arrogant students at the top of their class or spoiled only children who feel superior to others and think they can tell everyone what to do." "So common a democratic event as the fall of one government appears nothing short of a Greek tragedy and to some extent, it may even have become one." "If the current crisis is an invitation to action that will give new substance to our identity then we have no reason to regret it." "Let us, therefore, understand it as a lesson, a test, a challenge that may have come just in time to warn us of our pride, and save us from something far worse." "Thank you for your attention." "I've tried on three shirts and they all make these folds." "They can't sew them properly." "What now?" "We'll chuck it out or give it to someone who needs it." "Don't let it bother you." "You've got plenty to upset you today." "This upsets me more than all the Republican crap I'll hear." "This one's okay." "They can't even make a shirt." "Such sloppy work." "Well, I'm off." "Dasa, don't be late." "l'll be right there." "The live broadcast of this comedy starts in 15 minutes." "Ladies and Gentlemen, I've already mentioned a few examples of Vaclav Havel's political amnesia." "The Republican Party rejects Vaclav Havel as a presidential candidate because he lacks the political and moral capacity to be President of this country." "I must mention one of Havel's main slogans back when he was Czechoslovak president." ""Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred."" "The consequences of this slogan are visible everywhere." "Vaclav Havel is the architect of the whole Velvet Revolution fraud." "You must have something to eat." "How about you?" "Have you eaten?" "The filmmakers will have some." "The result so far indicates that no one was elected in round one." "The candidate with the most votes proceeds to round two." "And that's Vaclav Klau..." "Havel." "Yes, I apologize for the slip." "They brought me another shirt in case I'm elected." "But it won't happen." "You can still look great." "You've found some nice shirts." "l know my job." "You sure do." "They're breaking for an hour." "They'll spend another hour or so voting in the second round." "Then they'll announce the results, something like that." "I'll wait here a few more minutes to make sure I don't do anything inappropriate." "We'll go to Weigl's place." "lt's a light dessert, tiramisu." "l made it for you once." "ls it what we had out there?" "No, that was biscuits." "They can't be calling you already." "If it's them, grab the champagne and we'll start twisting Vaclav's arm." "If it's about the election you'll have to go with me so we can do our little show." "But they may say that I wasn't..." "Excuse me, it's Mr. Sklenar." "That's it, then." "Can you ask him if the outcome is positive?" "Tell him it's the President asking." "Tell me before I take the call so that we know if you have to come with me..." "lt's positive." "Jesus Christ." "Poor thing!" "I'm President again." "Shit." "Hello?" "Do I have to go now?" "I'll be right there." "Who needs this?" "It looked so promising after the first round." "Five years of your life is settled in two or three hours." "They'll tell me I've been elected President again and how will I respond?" ""Thanks for the information?"" "And they'll ask me to come with them." "Before I ask the Vice-Chairmen to ask the newly elected President Vaclav Havel into the hall I think it's proper to give the floor to a Republican Party member who has asked to speak." "Mr. Vik, the floor is yours." "Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to emphasize that the Republican Party does not recognize today's presidential election." "We maintain that Vaclav Havel is not the lawfully elected President of the Czech Republic." "Mr. Havel, you should be ashamed." "I've got to put on my tails." "Follow me, please." "Nova TV would offer forty thousand for a shot of this." "How can they be so big?" "They must have mixed up the trouser. ls it the same material?" "She must have brought me some tuxedo trousers instead." "I've never seen these before." "I could fit into them twice over." "Where's my medal, the medals?" "Which is nicer?" "The White Lion." "Suppose l wear both of them?" "Not at the same time." "We could take two pictures." "It looks awful, I've lost weight." "Dasa, listen..." "Run and tell Dasa I'm ready and that she can come." "And send her make-up girl to powder me a little." "We might take one picture in the tails and one in civvies." "I didn't know I had to wear something beside the tails." "We'd need a shirt, trousers, a tie and so on. lt's a nuisance." "There are so many pictures of me as it is." "I had a brown jacket and a red sweater and a yellowish shirt." "But that would be too much fuss." "What if Mrs. Blahova brings me a tie I don't like?" "Or a shirt with a crumpled collar?" "You can't just improvise." "But if you want to do it, do it." "I want to be back home by one." "I can't stand it. I hate it!" "I'm not a model. I can't help it." "Hurry up." "Where's Dasa?" "Dasa!" "Yes." "Hurry up!" "Want a glass of bubbly?" "l sure would." "Want some champagne?" "Put a sparkle in your eye." "I wasn't strong enough again." "I gave in to them." "What can I do?" "Never mind." "Let's go." "We should've already started." "I've had enough." "Now there's a problem with the trousers." "Not just with the trousers, but with the collar, the shirt, the jacket, the tie, the whole lot." "Mainly it's me that's the problem." "I can't stand it much longer." "Over here, Mr. Koutecky!" "No!" "That's not fair." "Let's sit down on this." "Oh, the peg..." "And another one." "Greetings, greetings, welcome." "But Mr. Koutecky..." "There's nothing visually interesting about my going to hospital." "I don't know." "I suppose if I die on the operating table then this last footage of me might have a certain value..." "The doctors have recommended that I stop reading the papers and watching the TV news because, though I may not let it show, my exasperation appears on the machines I'm hooked up to." "Everything goes through the roof, blood pressure, pulse, saturation, all those numbers," "when I read nonsense in the papers and get mad." "So I'll try to cut myself off from what's happening in politics." "I don't expect them to attack me because I won't be doing anything." "They always attack me when I do something." "When I'm quietly vacationing or dying in hospital, they lay off and my popularity increases." "There's no reason to attack me." "Dasa, let's go." "Are you coming?" "Good." "Come on, then." "A nice little room." "Our pictures are here." "Doctor, can you offer us a welcoming shot of something?" "I haven't had breakfast yet." "You've always forced me to eat steak and red wine." "It'll be in a different form." "Mr. President, we downloaded a standard check-up for Clinton." "We consider him an average, healthy American and your results fit right in, at least in laboratory terms." "That's great." "He's an average healthy American." "Maybe he exercises a bit more." "He's ten years younger than I am." "And he's a much greater erotomaniac than I am." "Let's hope the President spends as little time here as possible." "Cheers!" "To your health." "I'm always nervous before giving these long speeches in English and relieved when it's over." "If I don't stress the right words the Americans can't understand what I'm talking about." "After reading a speech like this, I always give somebody this copy." "For instance I gave my Harvard speech to President Bush as a gift, with a dedication, and all these phonetic marks." "The others are more complicated." "The long ones are, sure." "Fifteen minutes to go." "The media are in power here and its like you've got to stand in line for the camera." "It starts at half past." "This happens to me all the time, here in America." "It's those air-conditioners, the draughts." "The plan is that you'd make some remarks during lunch." "Careful, I wanted to skip the lunch." "It starts an hour later." "We wouldn't make it to Minnesota." "And I'm expected to cool my heels over a disgusting American meal with no mustard, no pepper, There's absolutely no point." "If they could make a decent soup, I'd stay for that and then leave." "But they can't, so I'm going now." "It was so poignant. I was told they played "Rusalka" in my honour." "And Dasa will show you how the girl sang it." "lt was so touching." "Come on, show them." "You can do it so nicely, the way she did it." "O moon upon the heavens deep, your rays see far into the night." "She sang it with such feeling I wept my eyes out." "The alliance has decided to use Dasa as a weapon against French anti-Americanism." "She's worth two F-18 fighters." "They always seat her next to Chirac and he flirts with her - he's French, after all - and forgets to bitch about America." "The wildcat occupation of Czech TV is in its fourth day now." "The employees refuse to recognize the new General Manager." "They threaten to strike if he doesn't resign." "They say his news blackout has caused losses in the millions." "It's a December revolution." "Worst comes to worst, we'll barricade ourselves in the Castle." "We have our own generator and food enough for three days." "We're waiting for the news to start." "He can't just cancel the news!" "As you see, he can." "If I made a statement, would they display a notice saying an unauthorized President spoke on unauthorised television?" "The whole situation is completely politicized." "Every political party has staked out a position stressing the importance of independent public television." "You've said nothing so far." "They're just waiting for you to step out and make a mistake." "I suggest you be very cautious." "The Broadcasting Council is meeting tomorrow and they'll decide which of the broadcasts is illegal." "The question is what to say in case you do take a stand?" "I don't think it makes sense sending letters to public officials." "I'd say the viewers might be a little confused, although in principle their sympathies are with the rebels." "So I have a duty to say one or two things to citizens even at the risk of them saying the whole thing was a conspiracy cooked up by Havel and the Castle." "But if I worried about this I couldn't be President." "The main argument is that they have no right to strike when GM and the Board are legally appointed." "I need to say the spirit of the law trumps the letter of the law." "The communist coup in 1948 conformed to the letter of the law, but totally violated its spirit." "Period." "That's rough." "However, Mr. President, maybe you should devise a statement that could be broadcast by the management side as well." "You shouldn't let yourself be used by just one side." "But I have to take the side of those who are in the right." "You can't stay neutral between good and evil, truth and lies and be inscrutable, like Buddha." "It's simply impossible." "Mr. President, this is a big gun." "Fighting fire with fire." "You push me to take a firm stand and when I do you talk me out of it." "I'm just pointing out the risks." "Mr. President, why do you sympathize with people who, according to the new GM, are acting illegally?" "I think the letter of the law is always derived from its spirit." "In this case, management may have followed the letter of the law, but they've gone against its spirit." "And that is very dangerous." "I remember February 1948 when the long era of communist dictatorship began." "That happened in conformity with the letter of law but it completely violated the spirit of the constitution." "Anyone, though he be the head of state, who urges people to break valid laws, has no place in Czech politics." "Thank you for your attention." "The books could be arranged like this." "It looks like the President has written 1 4 volumes, not 7." "I'll speak about two types of fear, one connected with the circulation of the work in samizdat, and fear that the police might confiscate the manuscript, and now, my fear of what the public will say." "2,000 copies of my collected works is a lot and my opponents and enemies will scour it to find something they can use against me." "So I'll speak about those two bugbears." "No one" "Nowhere" "Never" "Ever" "Got anywhere." "Who, me?" "Such a fool I am not." "God himself will have an easier job at the Last Judgement." "He won't have to go through old magazines or gather the various editions of my writings." "He'll have all the evidence in one place." "But in my opinion, you can't read my work as a whole." "I'd find it dubious if you could." "It would mean I'd planned it that way from the beginning and then, for the rest of my life, simply followed the plan." "My life, my work are now organized and I'm as happy as a child that my collected works are now out." "They say the Communist support is still growing." "The representative of the Christian Democrats says he feels sad about the current election projections." "He wanted a coalition with ODS, of course." "They promised him the Speaker's chair." "Their results could improve but no dramatic change is..." "Kasal, you' re right, it's sad." "At the stroke of five I have to call all four leaders." "Klaus really got me going when he said: "Not before Monday."" "Clearly he wants to wrap it all up by Sunday, hand out boardroom seats, stock options, the television..." "He'll be lucky to save his own skin." "He's got nothing to hand out now." "We live in an era when the media rule and I'll look like a fool who's not reacting." "The Social Democrats have won the election." "For the first time since the fall of communism the right-wing parties are in the minority." "I'll give you the President." "Hallo, this is Vaclav, hi Vaclav." "Yes, good evening. I'm calling to congratulate you." "It's not what you wanted but it's quite respectable showing." "No, no, no." "I want to talk to the parties that have a reasonable chance of forming a government or cooperating democratically." "I'm not obliged to negotiate with anyone." "Thank you." "He asked me why I won't talk to the Communists, since I'm talking to the coalition." "He's worried." "He's just trying to get at me." "ls he coming over?" "Yes, he is." "The Communist Party was the biggest surprise of of the election." "No one could have guessed that 13 years after the fall of communism every fifth Czech citizen would vote Communist." "It's a beauty but there's a problem:" "It doesn't make a proper sound." "It sounds like someone tripping over a chair." "So you'll open it and I'll take the gavel out of the box." "No, no don't, just hand it to him." "You only use the gavel when a decision has been made." "No practising." "We'll give it to him before the dinner." "And a scarf from Mrs. Havlova." "Then the musicians mount the stage and start tuning up." "Vaclav, we're going at 12:05." "The police really piss me off with this." "They're complicating the whole summit." "Chirac should sit next to Dasa." "She has a good influence on him." "This is where the gala dinner will be." "I'd take this for our office." "This one too." "This gemstone belonged to emperor Rudolph ll." "It should probably stay at the Castle." "A rosary from the Pope." "I guess this belongs to the state." "It's the state seal." "My God!" "Gentlemen, come and help me." "Vaclav, wait, I'll tick it off." "It's going be a long cleanup." "And the email?" "Can I send it from anywhere to anyone?" "You can go to an internet café anywhere in New York." "I asked ex-president Kucan where he holds meetings now and he said in a café." "I hope you can do that too." "And Vaclav, are you going to kick up your heels?" "Well, I'll just go from pub to pub, my pockets full of well-thumbed photos of people I used to know - a photo of me and Stallone and Schwarzenegger  and they'll buy me drinks for that." "And we'll also go to pubs with a well-thumbed photo of this man we worked with." "Farewell!" "Farewell!" "Please come sit with us for a while." "I wanted to tell you how important you were to me when I was in prison." "There was a rule:" "as a reward for good behavior we could watch TV on Sundays, and on New Year's Day but there had to be ten of us." ""The Bartered Bride" was on." "And I was the only one who wanted to watch it, so I had to "buy" nine prisoners with cigarettes to watch it with me." "I'd heard this, but not about the prisoners." "Were they bored to tears?" "They probably slept through it." "But it was an inspiring experience for me in that gloomy prison." "Then we met during the revolution." "You were one of us revolutionaries." "A good thing has come to pass" "True love has won the day" "The struggle has a happy ending" "Now let's have a gala wedding." "I wish you all the best." "Aha, here's the cast of characters." "Vilem Lear, the hero." "An elegant greying man in his mid-fifties, a former politician who has recently lost power." "I wrote that in 1988." "He's a slightly vain man, confident, enjoys the limelight." "The loss of power is hard for him to bear but at first he doesn't let it show." "He lives with the memories of his recent power." "Somewhere deep inside he may still believe that one day someone, perhaps the nation, will summon him back to power, which of course is a great delusion." "Vaclav Klaus was elected President of the Czech Republic" "Milos Zeman retired from politics" "Vaclav Havel has written a new play called "Leaving"" "Subtitles by Paul Wilson"