The book Jan Werich behind the curtain brings over three hundred unique photos from the family archive. They map his life from birth to death and discover Werich's little-known faces - a worldly dandy, a genius comedian, a proletarian advocate, a friend of famous artists and unknown fishermen, a struggling patient and a lonely Master.
It also talks about Werich's vices. That he was sometimes unfair, domineering and self-centered. He was overcome with frustration and anger as he went from being a popular acting star to an uncomfortable figure who had been sidelined by the former regime. He was plagued by health problems. He not only caused them himself, but deepened them with his fondness for good food, drinking and smoking.
The combination of unique photographs and twelve comprehensive interviews by Jiří Janoušek, in which Jan Werich looked back on his life not long before his death, are complemented by contemporary testimonies and comments people who were close to him, especially Jiří Voskovec, Miroslav Horníček and Miloš Kopecky, but also doctors who treated him or Maria's teammates.
The book Jan Werich behind the curtain brings a plastic portrait of Jan Werich and his privacy, which was not exactly happy and remained hidden behind the legend of the wise clown.