Directed by:
Václav HavelCinematography:
Jan MalířComposer:
Michal PavlíčekCast:
Josef Abrhám, Oldřich Kaiser, Dagmar Havlová, Jaroslav Dušek, Tatiana Dyková, Eva Holubová, Vlasta Chramostová, Jiří Lábus, Jiří Macháček, Josef Polášek (more)Plots(1)
Vilém Rieger held the office of Chancellor for many years and now can’t come to terms with the fact he has been ousted. His world has collapsed, as well it might since he also has to move out of the government villa that has become home for himself and his family. While he undergoes the humiliating process of separating government-issue property from his own private things, he involuntarily embarks upon an inventory of his relationships with the people around him. In the process he discovers that he never actually knew his family or his colleagues at all and is now in danger of being manipulated by everyone in his midst – including those closest to him. Václav Havel based his directorial debut on his own stage play which he began writing back in the summer of 1989, before the political changes occurred, propelling him towards the presidential office. The film adaptation of Leaving, a play within the poetic mode of absurd theatre, thus tinkers with autobiographical elements, but it is not the story of Havel himself. Musings on the powerlessness of the powerful in the face of their own ego call to mind Shakespeare’s King Lear and Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)
(more)Cast
![Josef Abrhám](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/166/323/166323293_f95e62.jpg)
Josef Abrhám
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Best movies:
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! (1976)
Revizor (1971) (theatrical recording)
Hráči (1983) (theatrical recording)
![Oldřich Kaiser](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/163/971/163971357_4a2abb.png)
Oldřich Kaiser
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
U Tlučhořů (2010) (theatrical recording)
Rozčarovaní (1982) (TV movie)
Přišel na večeři (1981) (theatrical recording)
![Dagmar Havlová](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/163/696/163696622_b8f1a6.png)
Dagmar Havlová
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Gazdina roba (1992) (theatrical recording)
Noc pastýřů (1993) (TV movie)
Hřbitov pro cizince (1991) (TV movie)
![Jaroslav Dušek](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/494/161494941_97bf2a.jpg)
Jaroslav Dušek
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Cosy Dens (1999)
Čtyři dohody (2013) (theatrical recording)
Divided We Fall (2000)
![Tatiana Dyková](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/806/164806193_6025de.jpg)
Tatiana Dyková
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Teremin (2010) (theatrical recording)
Loners (2000)
Operace Silver A (2007) (TV movie)
![Eva Holubová](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/163/725/163725855_26301e.jpg)
Eva Holubová
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Cosy Dens (1999)
The Elementary School (1991)
Buttoners (1997)
![Vlasta Chramostová](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/268/268290_3dd93f.jpg)
Vlasta Chramostová
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
Hrdinové okamžiku (1961) (series)
The White Lady (1965)
![Jiří Lábus](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/281/164281474_2f1844.jpg)
Jiří Lábus
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Major Case Squad (2014) (series)
U Tlučhořů (2010) (theatrical recording)
Joachim, Put It in the Machine (1974)
![Jiří Macháček](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/163/309/163309039_3d72bb.jpg)
Jiří Macháček
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Oblomov (2002) (theatrical recording)
Loners (2000)
Identity Card (2010)
![Josef Polášek](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/275/275142_07d578.jpg)
Josef Polášek
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Zlatá šedesátá (2015) (theatrical recording)
Cops and Robbers (2001) (series)
Protector (2009)
![Ivana Uhlířová](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/280/280974_91c463.jpg)
Ivana Uhlířová
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Burning Bush (2013) (TV movie)
The Defender (2021) (series)
Weissenstein (2013) (theatrical recording)
![Stanislav Zindulka](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/271/271380_10a7ce.jpg)
Stanislav Zindulka
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Major Case Squad (2014) (series)
Forbidden Dreams (1986)
Burning Bush (2013) (TV movie)
![Miroslav Krobot](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/213/164213628_d4d675.jpg)
Miroslav Krobot
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Příběhy obyčejného šílenství (2009) (theatrical recording)
Burning Bush (2013) (TV movie)
P.F. 77 (2003) (TV movie)
![Jan Budař](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/296/162296855_ce2435.jpg)
Jan Budař
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Stavrogin je ďábel (2005) (theatrical recording)
Burning Bush (2013) (TV movie)
Cops and Robbers (2001) (series)
![Barbora Seidlová](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/128/165128072_2ea75d.jpg)
Barbora Seidlová
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Dámský krejčí (2012) (theatrical recording)
Ruffiano and Sweeteeth (1996)
Innocent Lies (2013) (series)
![Pavel Landovský](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/268/268560_a1de2a.jpg)
Pavel Landovský
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Revizor (1971) (theatrical recording)
The Valley of the Bees (1967)
Adelheid (1969)
![Jiří Bartoška](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/810/164810745_e39798.jpg)
Jiří Bartoška
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Bratři Karamazovi (1981) (theatrical recording)
Sense of Tumour (2024) (series)
Hřbitov pro cizince (1991) (TV movie)
![Michal Novotný](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/276/276423_823aec.jpg)
Michal Novotný
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Nineties (2022) (series)
Brouk v hlavě (2020) (theatrical recording)
Famílie (2010) (theatrical recording)
![Václav Havel](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/276/276404_3ebbaf.jpg)
Václav Havel
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Nineties (2022) (series) - a.f.
Marta Kubišová 1990 (1990) (concert)
Largo desolato (1991) (theatrical recording) - narrator
![Stanislav Milota](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/359/359092_421d66.jpg)
Stanislav Milota
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Leaving (2011)