Come on…
Please…
What?
-Leave her alone. -Or else what?
Please leave me alone!
And let’s bring up the man responsible for this, the playwright himself.
Oh, come on…
Thank you, but it’s only theatre.
I’d rather like to invite up the man
actually responsible for getting back our freedom of expression.
-Mr. Dubček, come on up, please. -Oh, please.
So that it’s not just my wish, let’s take a vote, democratically.
At least we can try this new thing out, right?
Who wants Mr. Dubček?
Seems pretty clear. But just to be fair, who’s for me?
So, at the wish of nearly everyone, Mr. Dubček, the stage is yours.
Are you crazy? He’s supposed to come to my premiere, too. Now he’ll be scared off.
I am excited about your interest in politics.
We, the communists… have to finally listen to your needs.
Each of us wants to be doing well. It’s only human…
but for all of us to be doing well…
Not afraid of heights, are you?
-Oh, it’s you. -And just who were you looking for?
Someone to, uh…
-To give them flowers when they finish? -To communists? Only on their graves.
Dubček, Dubček, Dubček…
Those two over there. Already arranged. Don’t you dare mess it up again.
Once Olga leaves to count tickets, we disappear. The blonde is a nurse.
And the brunette’s a hairdresser.
I’ll take the hairdresser and you take the nurse, okay?
In case she gives you a heart attack.
Thanks.
Wait, buddy, don’t be so eager. Not yet, not yet!
Please, wait up!
Excuse me.
I’m sorry. I just really had to go and I didn’t want to cut in line.
It’s better in the open air anyways.
I really appreciate your reforms.
Ending the censorship… I mean…
what a relief.
Can you tell me why you dragged me up on stage tonight?
I just wanted you to know that along with your great responsibility,
-you also have our great support. -That’s nice but I need to get home.
Don’t you have a family waiting for you?
Actually yes, a wife.
So give these to her. You don’t have to tell her they’re from me.
Comrade General Secretary!
State Security! StB police here! Enough fun and games, let’s go!
Ladies!
You’ve been drinking!
Comrade!
-Comrade! -Nice!
What did you think of the show?
You got any condoms on you?
You okay, buddy?
Oh, I see…
Come on, give him a little smile now and we’ll take good care of you.
Make an actress out of you. Come on, show us what you’ve got.
Beautiful. I think you have it in you. Write her in somewhere.
Olga?
I need you to read something for me.
Also there’s something I need to tell you.
You know best that in certain…
I mean in certain "private" matters…
I’m not so morally strong.
Couldn’t you, just for once, not tell me?
Well… I don’t want to lie to you.
Tonight, Warsaw Pact troops under Soviet command have invaded our country.
The aim of the occupation is to end the democratic reforms being instituted
under comrade Dubček’s liberal government.
Comrade Dubček urges us to remain calm and not resist the occupiers
until he returns from his emergency meeting in Moscow.
Nice car! Let me have a look inside.
Hold this.
Oh, yeah, German quality.
Not this, nor this…
Are you just going to stand there like some Honor Guard?
Music! Music, that’s always good.
Go home, Ivan,
the girls don’t love you here…
You couldn’t make this shit up.
Guys, we’ve all got to sign it or it’s the end of the Theatre of the Absurd.
No, this is the beginning of the Theatre of the Absurd. Goodbye.
"I hereby declare my support for the occupation by Warsaw Pact troops."
Here’s my script, the latest rewrite.
I added one new character.
It means nothing.
It’s just a stupid signature.
Exactly. It’d be a very stupid signature.
So you’re leaving me here all by myself?
[Voice of Dubček on radio] My dear comrades.
I’ve just returned from Moscow
where I signed an agreement,
which will restore peace to our country.
But as part of this agreement we will have to…
We will have to give up some of our recently instituted democratic freedoms
such as the freedom of expression
in order to preserve our socialist system
and to protect the well-being of our working class.
Wait.
Wait, wait…
You can’t park such a car here.
Why not?
Well, look at what your boss drives.
-So where am I supposed to park it? -Anywhere but here.
THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Watch out…
Really?
Excuse me?
-Why work so hard for the commies? -Well, "working for commies"…
I just want to go for a beer after work.
So, first I have to work, right?
Second, I have to roll out these barrels.
Otherwise they won’t get over to the barrel-filling department,
meaning no barrels will get filled,
and the drivers won’t have any barrels to deliver to pubs and bars.
-Hey, buddy, gimme back my bottle. -Oh, here, sorry about that.
Could you also call me "buddy"?
What’s all the entertainment out here? Get back to work, everyone!
Except you, Intellectual!
You stay right here.
APRIL MONTH OF PROTECTION AND WORK SAFETY
Are you actually making an effort to work?
Well, I’m trying to.
We brought you into this collective.
Shit, we accepted you into our family here, and you’re working your ass off.
-Sit down. -Yes, I’m trying to do my best.
Even if my wife thinks I’m not cut out for manual labor.
But you’ve sure as fuck overcome yourself. I got a complaint from above.
-About me? -No, about me. Didn’t say shit about you.
Before you, my workers never met quota. And you, the intellectual, surpass quota.
-I’m sorry to cause you troubles. -Maybe you’re sorry now.
But you worked your ass off. You’re fired.
Didn’t intend for that to happen, huh? Or maybe you did? I don’t care.
You should’ve thought about it. Always fucking think before you start to work.
Because with this approach of yours you’ll never find any job anywhere.
That I can promise. So repeat to me what you’re supposed to do!
-Think? -Fuck thinking! Just don’t do shit!
-Here’s to the theatre! -That bottle cost me one month’s salary!
-To your royalties from the West! -Fill everyone’s glass!
Look out, coming through! Turkey…
stuffed with duck…
stuffed with a pigeon… stuffed with caviar!
Bon appétit!
Are you looking for someone?
-Thank you. -Excuse me. I’m so glad you could come.
So am I.
What did you think of the show tonight?
My husband is a big fan of yours.
My wife is my biggest critic.
They might go together nicely then.
Shouldn’t we be getting home?
Maybe not yet.
We talked about this already, didn’t we?
Great show tonight. I wish my yard was big enough for my own shows.
Step on it!
Harder!
Come help me!
-Where’d you get this cassette? -From my friends.
-You have friends? -I even introduced them to you.
-Oh, the ones with the wedding tonight? -Yeah.
Well, the night is still young.
Shall we?
Thanks, but now shut up for a minute!
This is for my bride.
When you have nothing… Sliding down through the mud…
What the fuck is going on?
Come with me. Come on.
Doesn’t being here with all these outcasts just make you shit your pants?
-I’m a pariah just like you. -Fuck that. You’re a protected animal.
They keep you in your golden cage so you don’t protest against them.
But I don’t want to protest. I just want to do theatre.
-Yeah? How’s that working out so far? -Well, so far, not too well.
Don’t shine it in my eyes. On my hands. It’s not a police interrogation.
I’d also like to make a recording. Just like you do with music. But of my play.
So people can copy and share it… on cassettes.
Yeah, we do have the equipment for that.
Okay, how can I repay you?
Well, what can you do for us?
I’m just messing with you, buddy.
Thanks, buddy.
You bastards, this is a private party!
Leave her alone!
Leave me alone!
They’ve done nothing wrong!
You can’t just come in here and do this!
You’d better get back to the pub.
-You can’t do this for no reason… -Or do you want to get some too?
Olga!
What are you still waiting for?
You left the door open on purpose.
It wasn’t open. Only when someone went for a beer.
We have testimony from an StB secret police officer
that the door was open.
Comrade StB officer opened it himself to get inside.
What are you writing over there? Do you have permission to make notes?
Comrades StB officers themselves disturbed a private party.
By opening the door, you made it a public performance.
And you had no permit for it.
And you knew you wouldn’t get it with the raunchy lyrics in your songs.
In our 50 songs, there are at most four vulgar words,
with "shit" being the worst of those.
Order! Enough of this farce!
Tell me, what is your attitude to our socialist regime?
None. Just like yours to our music.
Excuse me?
We just want to play our music. The board-approved music is censored
and thus lame and dull.
"Note that into the report."
"Defendant admits to hostile attitude towards the socialist regime."
I want something noted in the report, too.
Go ahead.
If any of us are sentenced, but I’m not,
I ask to be sentenced as well.
Excuse me, sorry.
Would you like one?
-Hi. -Hi. Thanks a lot.
It won’t be okay. I’m six months pregnant!
-Hello. -Hello.
Care for a smoke?
FRIDAY 6PM AT MY HOME
Well, I’ve quit that, but maybe one…
-Care for one? -Thank you, but it upsets my stomach.
-We need independent courts. -Communists won’t give up that control…
-And fuck censorship! -Cancelling all approval committees.
-Including those controlling the press! -Exactly. So we can be published, too.
Restoring freedom of speech and press.
This is pointless work. We already have all of this in our constitution:
Freedom of speech, assembly,
religion, everything.
But we all know well that it’s just there for appearance sake.
So the Communists look good to the West.
Exactly. They don’t give a fuck about our constitutional rights.
So let’s request they take them seriously.
So they simply follow their own laws.
We further request an end to state interference
into our private lives and family matters…
Glasses are in the living room.
Is there something you don’t like?
It’s not about me.
But I am responsible for the theatre,
for actors, people supporting families.
And I also have to think about our child.
Oh, I didn’t even know you were expecting…
Well, not yet, but we’re working on it.
What else is there to do in this fucking country?
What we call a conscience is completely independent of us.
It’s not our construction,
however, it is an inseparable part of us all.
The most interesting thing about the conscience is we carry it with us always.
We cannot get rid of it whether we like it or not.
Well, that’s it for today.
Thank you.
-Bye. -Goodbye.
-Goodbye. Thank you.
How long have you been taking this class?
Why didn’t you come to the country house last night?
I actually don’t want you to tell me.
Watch the handbag.
I don’t know why you came, but it’s good you did.
The Party will likely have some response.
And their response towards us acting as spokespersons might be unpleasant.
Well, they can’t unload my coal any further from my cellar.
At least for now they still deliver it.
Why me?
It’s a chance to finally do something.
But I don’t want to pressure you.
I’ll close the window for you.
Wait.
-You wrote it by yourself? -With friends.
You have friends?
-Hey. -Hey.
-Please. -Thank you.
Hey.
The children expect an angel with a devil bringing their gifts. It’s tradition.
It’s nice you brought a present even for adults.
Where should I sign?
Mom, we recognized them.
Girls, you’re all ears, aren’t you?
In families with children only one parent can sign, just in case.
Are you crazy? Think of the kids.
That’s exactly what I’m doing.
The kids need a mother, not a martyr.
We need to get the Charter’s declaration to the West.
They’ll give you a short-term visa if you leave your husband and kids here.
But you won’t take any papers. You’ll memorize the declaration. Because…
Because we…
I don’t get why we’re taking it to him. Specifically him.
If he joins us, it’s huge.
He’s an icon. People still love him.
Hey, why didn’t you guys ask me to sign it?
-I’m also an icon. -But you’re also such a hothead.
-And the Charter is all about dialogue. -Are you shitting me?
You’re all fucked up!
Hello, would you sign this, please?
-Hi. -Of course. Who’s it for?
For Daddy. He likes your films and wants to ask when you’ll be acting again.
That’s a good question when I’m going to act again. Here you go.
-Thank you. -Bye.
-Folks! Who wants to see me acting again? -Wow, it’s Mr. Landovský!
-Quiet. You know what’s in our briefcase. -Exactly.
We have a declaration which would allow me to act again. Will you sign it?
So you understand, it’s a declaration
requesting the freedom of expression for everyone, meaning also for you.
Please excuse us. We have a long journey ahead.
Why are you waving around the flask? You've been drinking too, haven’t you?
-I’ll sign your declaration. -You keep quiet.
No, for now we’re only asking people we know well to sign it.
Yeah, since nothing can happen to you. To you and your well-known friends.
Now hold on there. They haven’t even let me sign it yet.
-Stop it. -No. Either you let me sign it
-or I’ll read it out loud to everyone. -No, we’re not interested.
We’re going to my parents' for Christmas.
Yeah. Leave the lady alone.
-You provocateur. -The lady’s right.
I’m sorry.
Merry Christmas, then.
You can’t push people to join. They’ll join us when there’s more of us.
But there won’t be more of us if they don’t join us.
-Can I help you? -Hello, we brought this document.
For your father to read.
Your identification cards.
Here you are.
-What’s your purpose here? -This man just came
to visit his old friend.
My father’s not here.
Leave.
-Get out of here! -We heard you.
Hold up.
Mr. Dubček, it’s me!
"Charter 77" is a free, informal and open association of people
of different convictions, different faiths and different professions,
who are linked by the desire, individually or jointly to insist on the respecting
of civil rights in our country and in the world…
-…and "human" rights. -Remember, it’s "civil and human" rights.
Come on, you be a little more human. So, she forgot one little word.
It’s clearly not "chickens’" rights.
Go on.
Linked by the desire, individually or jointly to insist on the respecting
of civil and human rights in our country and throughout the world,
rights recognized for men by the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference
and which are expressed as a whole
in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.
And…
Forgetting a word, forgetting a bra.
Looks like it’ll get to the West just beautifully.
Now those three km to the government offices.
-They’re following us already. -Calm down. It’s just some old Škodas.
Fuckers have them all tuned up!
Hold on!
-I hadn’t expected this. -This kind of ride?
Next time, I want to drive!
Mailbox!
Go, go, go!
Hurry up!
Come on, man, hurry up, really! They are coming!
Fuck it, come on!
-Fuck! -These guys probably really are police.
-Lock the door! -Enough of the fun and games! Get out!
-What? Can’t hear so well in here. -As you wish. Open it.
-What are you doing, you dumbfuck? -Open the door!
-I’ll tell them you’re just a hitch-hiker. -Doesn’t matter what they’re doing,
because we’re doing the right thing.
What are you doing?
Go in there!
Your wife keeps my photo under her pillow!
Fuck…
How about those shoes?
Wouldn’t you rather be at the cottage? You have everything you need there.
You’re not built for prison life.
All we want is for you to tell us what you are after.
I’ll speak about the Charter only with the intended state authorities.
With authorities you’d like to hang on street lamps!
Stop it.
When I do something wrong, I man up. I just admit to it, right?
We can have it all written down in an hour and you go home.
But I didn’t do anything wrong.
If not, then say it! In an hour, we’ll have it all written down and you go home.
I don’t get you. Are you a man?
Look…
-I just want to do my work. -But you’re breaking the law.
-According to you. -That’s our job to judge.
Go ahead and keep them all, so you have something for next month.
Yes, your detention has been extended.
Why?
For the fourth time.
You’ve already questioned everybody.
And the Charter has dissolved. You said so yourselves. So, why?
Why is my detention extended? When you already know everything.
Because we want to hear it all from you.
Complaining to the very person that you’re complaining about is stupid.
Here, look at this.
"Cultural professionals signed a declaration
in the National Theater denouncing anti-socialist activity."
Even the artists are against you now.
Just everyone.
I’m going for a walk.
You’ll be out by summer.
If they didn’t want to let you go, they’d have already cut off your hair.
You’d really let all my work go to waste?
The fence has to be painted, otherwise I did all that for nothing.
Without regular upkeep, the worms will take over.
It’ll start to decompose and fall apart before you know it.
What’s wrong?
IT IS WITH DEEP SORROW TO ANNOUNCE HE HAS LEFT US FOREVER
His heart.
The last interrogation lasted 14 hours.
Stop.
-Hi. -Hi.
Do you know when my next interrogation will be?
Used to be at least once a week and now nothing for three weeks.
Nobody tells me anything.
The calming effect means I’ll be sleeping all the time?
As we can’t lie down during the day,
couldn’t you prescribe me an alarm so I can be precise with the doses?
You really don’t know when my next interrogation is?
These don’t look very strong. Could I get more of them?
Or even buy some. I do have money.
Even if I were to talk, I wouldn’t be telling you anything new.
I would only be telling you my thoughts, which can’t really hurt anyone.
Thank you.
There’s been a mistake.
I wanted "The Sorrows of Young Werther"!
-There’s been a mistake! -Here, too!
You’re the mistake!
"I admit that my well-intended activities
might have been used and misrepresented by the foreign press,
and in the event of my release, I agree to refrain from any political activities
and to focus exclusively on my dramatic writing as an artist."
I really just want to write.
We need a written pledge to the State you’ll give up all political activism.
Okay, but can I talk to my wife first?
So the whole group’s just given up?
Are you crazy, buddy? They told you that?
The Charter’s alive and well, my friend!
Why would you believe anything they say?
NO ENTRY - GUARDED AREA
As if we’d ever believe that you signed a confession just to get out of there.
Check out this Communist bullshit.
The Communist propaganda campaign is the best advertising for us.
Everyone wants to know what the Charter is all about. Making copies, secretly,
-sending it on to others. -Hello.
Well, Comrade Theatre Director. You came to celebrate another stupid signature?
To you, we’re now the enemies of the state.
Anti-socialist elements, outcasts…
Hi.
Spit in my face.
You think it’ll wipe away the betrayal?
Well since you asked nicely…
Guys, stop it.
How long did they detain you for?
-Please, stop it. -How long were you in that fucking prison?
Huh?
-Four months. -Four months…
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Thank you.
Greetings to everyone at the theatre.
Bye!
Look, here's another pub.
-Let us in! -We're out of beer!
-Forget about it. -I want to get inside!
-Hey, leave him alone, he’s tiny! -So get him to behave himself!
Get lost. Both of you.
You criminal! See any bars and you lose your shit!
You okay?
I guess I ruined my stomach there somehow. Sorry.
I’ve got tickets to the ball.
Would you help me with this?
I guess I’ve…
failed.
-If only they knew this at home, right? -Don’t tell anyone, please.
-Good evening. -Good evening.
Please.
Your Identification, please.
-Why? -Identification.
Here you are.
Thank you.
You can’t go inside.
-Why not? We’ve got tickets. -The working class doesn’t want you here.
You’ve already made working class out of us. Now let us in.
-Hold up. -It’s a public event. I purchased tickets.
-Don’t push me. -Do you understand we have the right…
Nice tie…
You asshole…
Son of a bitch!
-Do you know who I am? -You can’t do this!
I am simply going in…
I bought the tickets! It’s my right!
Come on…
You don’t have the right…
-Here are your tickets! -Leave him alone! Stop it!
You’ll get beat up so bad today you’ll shit your pants!
-What’s going on? -I guess we’re under house arrest.
Hello, we need some groceries.
Subject’s wife requests permission to go grocery shopping.
I’m definitely not requesting anything. You want us to starve to death?
Permission granted. And the subject?
The subject is standing behind her.
-One moment. -One moment?
And who’s helping me with the bags?
Go get dressed.
Go on.
Oh, back inside the observation box again…
-You have the binoculars? -Yes, go observe him not fucking his wife.
Did the local idiot cops turn their radios on?
Fuck, what a smell! Are you pigs pissing inside here?
Better leave the door open…
-Report the progress of the situation. -He moved to a post.
-What is he fiddling with? -What are you fiddling with?
-It’s a radio. -Check it out.
Hand it over so I can check it out.
Subject entered the object.
How did you get all this done?
Typists. We’ve got six of them now.
"Once upon a time in a dark, scary place…"
Magor’s fairytales from prison. Written for his daughters,
but we’re publishing them for all the dissident children.
Who are these typists?
I’d rather not say. They have families, jobs…
I hope you’re not being serious.
If you don’t know, you can’t tell.
What I told them in custody, they already knew. And I knew they already knew.
They told me so much themselves.
My talking to them hurt no one. Nobody!
Not even yourself?
Maybe you should try writing that out.
And if I do, I’d better not sign it, huh?
MOVE OUT! WE’LL FUCK YOU UP
I got an invitation to Vienna.
They’re offering me a contract in the Burg Theatre.
I could do my plays again.
Yours, too, of course.
It’s just for a year.
Now you just need a passport and exit visa.
I’ve already got them.
They promised I’d be able to return.
Well, if they promised it…
It’ll be called The Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted…
Put it away.
-What happened to you? -I was just passing by them on the bridge.
They wanted to throw me off the bridge. But I can’t fucking swim…
I locked my leg into the railing. He jumped on it and…
Fuck!
They actually wanted to kill me.
I got this offer…
I know.
The Burg Theatre, Vienna.
I know good and well what you’re gonna tell me about it, but…
I’d love to be there with you guys.
Fuck this country, man…
Stop it.
I need you.
Please don’t hang on me.
Act like a man for once.
Me an StB secret agent? And I guess I broke my own leg to keep my cover!
An Austrian doctor will fix that leg fine. Strolling around Vienna with a fancy cane!
Guys, knock it off. No one here is collaborating with StB police.
Stay out of it! You’re playing the martyr but when they pressed, you shit yourself!
You fucker!
Enough!
-Stop pissing me off! -Mom!
-And clean this up! -It’s alright.
We won’t sleep here in your mess! It’s over!
Did you hear that? Party’s over!
-You don’t have the right! -Search warrant. Identification.
-Mom, who is it? -Don’t worry, they will leave.
I’m scared.
Don’t worry, I’m here with you…
Who’s next?
I prepared the structure of your criminal defence.
Firstly, you always acted in accordance with applicable law.
Exactly.
Thank you very much,
but since there’s no criminal conduct, there’s no need for a criminal defence.
They want to hold a big show trial, and hang everything on you.
The Charter declaration,
support of political prisoners, financial support of dissidents,
underground publishing.
Five to ten…
years.
The best years of your life.
We found out there is a premiere of your play in New York next week.
And tied to that is a one-year work/study offer in the USA
that your friends have negotiated for you.
You mean the CIA?
Well…
They were cheering you in 1968 on Broadway, weren’t they?
New York?
In America.
I would need to speak with my wife.
Don’t use me as an excuse if you want out. I knew what I was getting into with you.
But maybe the two of us could again…
You don’t even write me anymore.
I was taken into custody.
For what?
For making copies of your writings, but it’s not about me.
It is. It’s about you.
For me, it is all about you.
-I just don’t want… -No contact!
-I don’t want you to do something… -Sit down!
I’m leaving…
I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret later.
Exit visa.
And one for your wife.
Permit to exchange foreign currency.
And…
your passport.
You’re making the right choice.
No offense, but you really aren’t built for prison life.
Your travel request with your pledge to avoid political engagements
that might discredit the good name of our socialist republic abroad.
PASSPORT
This statement is just a formality.
Addressed to the prosecutor.
Take our offer, leave the country,
we’ll drop all the charges.
Your accused friends will be released, free to return to their homes.
We’ll also drop all the charges against your wife.
We all knew what we were getting into.
And we did it voluntarily even with the risk.
Everyone…
Even all the children who will now be many years without their parents?
Let’s do it. Here are your lines.
Have a seat, please.
-Hey, fellas. -Hey.
You’re in the first row. Thank you. You two please stand next to the bench.
You in the back, alright?
You gentlemen, watch for my cue.
Is everyone ready?
Let’s start.
The accused presents in his testimony:
I was blackmailed. I was threatened.
You tried to scare me by saying if I didn’t leave my homeland,
you’d turn my life into constant misery.
But even if you tortured me, you couldn’t torture me more than my own conscience
if I gave up doing the right thing.
In the case of the accused, the court has come to the following decision:
The accused committed the criminal act of Incitement of Subversion Against the State
and is sentenced to four years six months in state prison.
Come on, move it!
Dear Olga, thank you for the last package. It arrived fine.
Otherwise, there’s not much new for me to write to you about.
I started taking cold showers in order to make it through the 4th long winter.
I think it’s good for my health. Anyway, it helps reduce the fevers.
Please write me more often. Every tiny detail of your life,
what dresses you wear, the colors and patterns, what you do at the cottage.
And if the fence has been treated for the winter so it doesn’t grow mold.
There is some new protective paint for it.
I asked some carpenters who know everything about protecting wood.
In return, I’m helping them with book selections.
I’m even leading a small literary group.
He’ll cool down in the hole.
You have to go to hospital. A real hospital, not in here.
My wife sends me vitamins.
Write here, "I request my sentence to be suspended for health reasons."
Then your name and signature.
You won’t last another week in here.
He’s faking it.
"His absurd, satirical dramas will live on with us.
But painfully and sorrowfully we’ll miss his strong civil and political activity,
his brave, unyielding fight for maintaining human rights…"
Who wrote this? It’s drowning in adjectives.
-The spokespersons of the Charter. -It shows.
Next time show me first. I’d write a better obituary even back in my coma.
I like it.
His open, inspiring character…
Sorry.
What’s this one?
A petition for your release.
That petition got you out, even if the Communist officials won’t admit it.
Why did we save you then?
Are you trying to say you like me?
I want to start anew.
To live life to the fullest now knowing that they can take it all away any time.
I’ll tell Olga tomorrow.
I know you don’t like it when I tell you everything, but I need to say something…
Wait, wait…
This time I’m going to tell you something.
I’ve met someone.
A year ago.
How could you…?
Behind my back? How could you do this behind my back?
And what exactly did you want to tell me?
Thank you for saving me.
You’re free! You’re a free man now!
Freedom!
Freedom…!
Good evening. We have a reservation. Table for three.
We’re fully booked.
-But I made a reservation yesterday. -Unfortunately…
State Security.
-Please… -State Security.
Get up…
Get up and leave…
I’m sorry.
I called us here today to make a fundamental life decision.
I know I haven’t been the ideal husband, or the ideal lover,
but I think we have a beautiful relationship.
And I think that as adults,
we can all live together.
How exactly do you imagine that?
There’s plenty of room at the cottage. Even for some children.
So this is how you dreamed it?
But to make it work you have to end your extramarital affair.
You can’t be serious.
It’s absolutely necessary.
You don’t know how to make a decision.
Lover or wife,
theatre or politics.
You still think you can have it all?
I’m not going anywhere else tonight.
This evening in Prague On National Street…
to date the most brutal use of police force… against a peaceful gathering…
The police used tear gas and water cannons
and extreme violence against their own citizens.
Several dozen injuries have been reported from the site of the clash…
What you are listening to is an authentic recording of the clash…
which happened just hours ago right in the centre of the capital city.
Human rights! Human rights!
-Let us go! Leave us alone! -Gestapo!
And now I’d like to introduce a man
we all think should become the leading figure of these revolutionary days.
STRIKE
Thank you.
I think… well…
The one thing I can promise you is I’ll carefully consider my capabilities.
Have you seen Olga?
-Olga? Do you know where Olga is? -No idea, I haven’t seen her.
Hi.
We got them all printed and ready.
-Why didn’t you wait for me? -For what?
"Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred."
I wouldn’t say it this directly…
We’ve already got 60,000 of them.
…the candidate for president of the republic.
It’s the playwright and dissident, Václav Havel,
who will be speaking to the crowds tomorrow gathered on Wenceslas Square…
You can’t go in there!
Guten Abend!
Mein Gott.
Herzlich willkommen!
But we were fighting for our right to do theatre, not get into politics.
Imagine yourself speaking to the masses.
No offense, but you have just about every speech disorder that exists.
The president… Actually it could be the role of a lifetime for you.
It’s just that, my friend, you’re such a dreadful actor.
That’s true.
At best, you can barely play yourself.
Yeah, and sometimes I wasn’t too good at that either.
Václav, don’t involve yourself with the nobility.
But if you do, don’t forget that…
I just forgot the line.
When I win some triumph. By some chance,
Render no share to Caesar - in a word,
I am too proud to be a parasite,
And if my nature wants the germ…
-…that grows… -…that grows…
Towering to heaven like the oak, sheltering multitudes,
I stand, not high it may be - but alone!
Lousy actors…
Thanks for supporting me.
Okay, guys, I’m off to Karlín now.
To a gentlemen’s club I know there.
You’re probably going home to read a book. We know you.
Olga…
I need you to read this for me.
So you really want to be president?
But I can’t imagine doing it without you.
I thought as a playwright you had a better imagination.
I don’t.
I’d also like to say something.
I know that in certain emotional matters
I haven’t been as morally strong as you deserved.
That I hurt you many times.
But…
you have always been my First Lady.
I’d rather be your only lady.
Hi.
Good evening.
Oh, hello.
Good evening.
I want to announce my candidacy to the people.
The head of state is a role that carries great responsibility.
It requires someone with significant political experience.
But it also depends on what kind of political experience it is.
Let us speak alone, please.
Why didn’t you join us back then?
I couldn’t.
Why not?
I’m sorry.
I’ll be the only one announcing candidacy for president.