The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)

Director:

Philip Kaufman

Writers (WGA):

Milan Kundera (novel)
Jean-Claude Carrière (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

5 February 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A Lovers Story.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Soviet | Doctor | Surgeon | 1960s | Friendship

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

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
László Szabó	...	Russian Interrogator
Vladimír Valenta	...	Mayor
Clovis Cornillac	...	Boy in Bar
Leon Lissek	...	Bold Man in Bar
Consuelo De Haviland	...	Tall Brunette
Jacqueline Abraham-Vernier
Judith Atwell
Claudine Berg
Jean-Claude Bouillon		(as Jean-Claude Bouillion)
Miroslaw Beuer
Niven Busch
Margot Capelier
Victor Chelkoff
Monica Constandache
Jean-Claude Dauphin
Dominique De Moncutt
Bernard Lepinaux
Josiane Lévêque
Peter Majer
Charles Millot
Gérard Moulévrier
Jan Nemec
Charly Oleg
Sylvie Plantard
Olga Baïdar-Poliakoff
Christine Potter
Hana Maria Pravda
Romano
André Sanfratello
Jirí Stanislav
Milos Szoboda
Helenka Vernier
Marrian Walters
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Philip Kaufman	...	Man walking on street outside Sabina's flat (uncredited)
Isabelle Noérie	...	Student (uncredited)

Directed by
Philip Kaufman

Writing credits (WGA)
Milan Kundera		(novel)
Jean-Claude Carrière		(screenplay) &
Philip Kaufman		(screenplay)

Produced by
Bertil Ohlsson	....	executive producer
Paul Zaentz	....	associate producer
Saul Zaentz	....	producer

Original Music by
Mark Adler

Cinematography by
Sven Nykvist

Film Editing by
Vivien Hillgrove Gilliam		(as Vivien Hillgrove)
Michael Magill
Walter Murch
B.J. Sears		(co-editor)

Production Design by
Pierre Guffroy

Costume Design by
Ann Roth

Makeup Department
Suzanne Benoit	....	key makeup artist
Rosalina Da Silva	....	makeup artist: Lena Olin

Production Management
Daniel Baschieri	....	assistant unit manager
Frank Simeone	....	unit production manager: USA unit
Daniel Szuster	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eric Bartonio	....	first assistant director
Simon Brook	....	assistant director
Robert Kechichian	....	second assistant director
Charles Paviot	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Jean-Michel Ducourty	....	second assistant art director
Michael G. Ploog	....	storyboard artist
Jean-Yves Rabier	....	carpenter

Sound Department
David Franklin Bergad	....	sound editor
Mark Berger	....	supervising re-recording mixer
Jean-Marie Blondel	....	sound assistant
Todd Boekelheide	....	sound re-recording mixer
Luis Colina	....	sound effects editor
Ernie Fosselius	....	foley editor
Ruth Hasty	....	apprentice sound editor
Pat Jackson	....	sound effects editor
Ann Kroeber	....	sound effects
Barbara McBane	....	dialogue editor
Christopher Newman	....	production sound mixer
David Parker	....	sound re-recording mixer
Philip Rogers	....	sound recordist
Karen Spangenberg	....	dialog editor
Alan Splet	....	sound designer
Dianna Stirpe	....	sound apprentice
Ewa Sztompke	....	sound effects assistant
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle	....	assistant dialogue editor

Special Effects by
Jozef Ort-Snep	....	trick photography

Camera and Electrical Department
Phil Bray	....	still photographer
Richard Brodet	....	best boy electric
Philippe Houdart	....	camera operator
George Michael Pantages	....	gaffer: US production crew (as Michael Pantages)

Casting Department
Marie-Sylvie Caillierez	....	extras casting
Patricia de Oliveira	....	casting: US production crew
Sarah C. Koeppe	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Donna Maloney	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Jack Garsha	....	color timer
Robert Grahamjones	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Mark Adler	....	music arranger
Ernie Fosselius	....	music arranger: Gevena production crew
Leos Janácek	....	music: selected works from
Alan Splet	....	music selection: Janacek's works
Jeffery Stephens	....	assistant music editor

Other crew
Patrick Boshart	....	location scout
Kent Brown	....	production assistant
Walter Slater Murch	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• The Saul Zaentz Company

Distributors

• Orion Pictures Corporation (1988) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Transmundo Films (1988) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Aquarius TV (2005) (Greece) (TV)
• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-edited)
• CBS/Fox Video (1989) (Belgium) (video)
• Condor Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Tobis Filmkunst (Germany)
• Transmundo Home Video (THV) (1988) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Argentina) (all media) (re-release)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Trielli Bros.

Other Companies

• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)  with the assistance of (as French National Center of Cinematography)
• Cinematte  optical effects
• DDA Public Relations (DDA)  publicity
• Europe 1  with the assistance of
• Fantasy Records  soundtrack
• Nancy Seltzer & Associates  publicity
• Pacific Title  titles
• Pan American Airlines  with the assistance of
• S.N.C.F.  with the assistance of (as French National Railroads, S.N.C.F)
• San Francisco Symphony Chorus  with the assistance of
• Saul Zaentz Film Center  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

Runtime:

171 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2005) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (re-rating) (2005) | Canada:R (Manitoba) (2005) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) (original rating) | Iceland:14 | Argentina:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Peru:14 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Hong Kong:III | Singapore:R21 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Bolinas, California, USA

Company:

The Saul Zaentz Company

Trivia:

The sequence depicting the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia incorporates real documentary footage of the era shot by students of Prague Film School with new scenes recreated for the movie. One of the film students, Jan Nemec, has a small role as a cameraman who is beaten and has his film confiscated by the Soviet police.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Tomas the window-washer slugs back the wine offered to him by the Communist Party official's wife, the wineglass refills as he sits down on the chair next to the sideboard.

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]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "L.A. Law: The Unbearable Lightness of Boring (#3.15)" (1989)

Memorable and beautifully done

I've not read the book this is based on, so have no way to comment on how this movie translates it. But the film itself has stayed in my mind like few others. Yes, it's very long, but the characters are so memorable that the length didn't bother me at all - I loved the time spent in their company. In particular, Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin are each astonishing in their own way. Olin is ferociously sensual and mesmerizing, while Binoche is superlatively sympathetic and sensitive. Two of the best female performances I can remember. By the end of the film I was totally wrapped up in these people's lives. This film is deeply erotic but in an intelligent and adult way that puts most other film's treatment of sex to shame. I thought it was beautifully handled by all concerned, and if I ever want to cry, I only need watch the scenes with the dog and the final scenes, both pulled off superbly.