The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)

In 1968, a Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.

Director:

Philip Kaufman

Writers:

Milan Kundera (novel), Jean-Claude Carrière (screenplay),

Stars:

Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Day-Lewis	...	Tomas
Juliette Binoche	...	Tereza
Lena Olin	...	Sabina
Derek de Lint	...	Franz
Erland Josephson	...	The Ambassador
Pavel Landovský	...	Pavel
Donald Moffat	...	Chief Surgeon
Daniel Olbrychski	...	Interior Ministry Official
Stellan Skarsgård	...	The Engineer
Tomasz Borkowy	...	Jiri (as Tomek Bork)
Bruce Myers	...	Czech Editor
Pavel Slabý	...	Pavel's Nephew
Pascale Kalensky	...	Nurse Katja
Jacques Ciron	...	Swiss Restaurant Manager
Anne Lonnberg	...	Swiss Photographer

Storyline

Tomas is a doctor and a lady-killer in 1960s Czechoslovakia, an apolitical man who is struck with love for the bookish country girl Tereza; his more sophisticated sometime lover Sabina eventually accepts their relationship and the two women form an electric friendship. The three are caught up in the events of the Prague Spring (1968), until the Soviet tanks crush the non-violent rebels; their illusions are shattered and their lives change forever.

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Plot Keywords:

soviet | doctor | waitress | friendship | invasion | 

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Taglines:

A Lovers Story.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 February 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

La insoportable levedad del ser

Filming Locations:

Bolinas, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$10,006,806 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Saul Zaentz Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

171 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several Czechs were in consideration to be involved in this film, including director Milos Forman, but very few ultimately ended up working on the film. Allegedly, protecting relatives still in Czechoslovakia from reprisals from the Communist regime was a primary reason.

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Goofs

When Tereza goes on her first photo foray into downtown Prague the soundtrack features a woman singing a Czech version of "Hey Jude," the original Beatle version of which was not released until August 26,1968 - the week after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.

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Quotes

[first lines]
First Title Card: In Prague, in 1968, there lived a young doctor named Tomas...
Tomas: Take off your clothes.
[line recurs several times during film]

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Connections

Featured in Emotional History: The Making of 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' (2006)

User Reviews

Unbearably Beautiful - one of the best films ever made

One of the most romantic films ever made, it shows the problems of people whose intimacies and personal conflicts are being interrupted by history on the move. I think this film surpasses the novel, which is utterly cynical (although understandably). Even in the last moments of the novel, Teresa is concerned that Tomas is cheating on her. The film also does well by dropping much of Franz's character - he was kind of uninteresting compared to Teresa, Tomas, and Sabina. It also drops such deadweight characters as Teresa's mother, Tomas' son, and Franz's wife. Also, a ton of different coworkers are combined into a few, so that their characters have time to develop. By concentrating on the three central characters, this film blossoms past what the novel ever achieved (although the novel is arguably more historically important). Philip Kaufman and Jean-Claude Carriere also add a couple of beautiful scenes that weren't in the novel, including Tomas' and Teresa's wedding, which is one of the most beautiful scenes in filmdom.