Critics give lukewarm reception to Vaclav Havel film

Mar 22, 2011, 17:06 GMT

Prague - Former Czech president Vaclav Havel's debut as a movie director has not gone down well with critics.

His film Leaving was given a lukewarm reception by the nation's media ahead of its premier on Tuesday evening.

The film is based on a play by Havel, who was a dissident and playwright before taking up politics, tells the story of a prime minister who loses his identity after leaving office.

'The best thing you can say is that it could have been worse,' wrote Tereza Spacilova in the online edition of the daily Dnes.

Magazine Tyden film critic Irena Hejdova called Leaving 'a wasted opportunity' and said the 74-year-old Havel was better at directing governments than films.

The newspaper Lidove Noviny was more charitable, saying the film offered an insight into the world of Havel, who was president of Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic from 1989-2003.

'Havel is an original character who swims with joy against the tide,' wrote the newspaper's critic Jana Machalicka.

Leaving goes on general release Thursday.

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