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IMDbPro

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

  • 19881988
  • RR
  • 2h 51m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
37K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,451
317
Lena Olin in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
DramaRomance
Central Europe, 1968: A Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.Central Europe, 1968: A Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.Central Europe, 1968: A Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
37K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,451
317
    • Philip Kaufman
    • Milan Kundera(novel)
    • Jean-Claude Carrière(screenplay)
    • Philip Kaufman(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Daniel Day-Lewis
    • Juliette Binoche
    • Lena Olin
    • Philip Kaufman
    • Milan Kundera(novel)
    • Jean-Claude Carrière(screenplay)
    • Philip Kaufman(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Daniel Day-Lewis
    • Juliette Binoche
    • Lena Olin
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 148User reviews
    • 61Critic reviews
    • 73Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars

    Videos1

    The Unbearable Lightness of Being
    Trailer 2:26
    Watch The Unbearable Lightness of Being

    Photos114

    Daniel Day-Lewis and Lena Olin in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
    Juliette Binoche and Daniel Day-Lewis in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
    Lena Olin in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
    Daniel Day-Lewis and Daniel Olbrychski in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
    The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
    Juliette Binoche in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
    The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
    Daniel Day-Lewis and Lena Olin in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
    Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
    Juliette Binoche and Daniel Day-Lewis in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
    Juliette Binoche and Daniel Day-Lewis in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
    Lena Olin in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Daniel Day-Lewis
    Daniel Day-Lewis
    • Tomas
    Juliette Binoche
    Juliette Binoche
    • Tereza
    Lena Olin
    Lena Olin
    • Sabina
    Derek de Lint
    Derek de Lint
    • Franz
    Erland Josephson
    Erland Josephson
    • The Ambassador
    Pavel Landovský
    Pavel Landovský
    • Pavel
    • (as Pavel Landovsky)
    Donald Moffat
    Donald Moffat
    • Chief Surgeon
    Daniel Olbrychski
    Daniel Olbrychski
    • Interior Ministry Official
    Stellan Skarsgård
    Stellan Skarsgård
    • The Engineer
    • (as Stellan Skarsgard)
    Tomasz Borkowy
    • Jiri
    • (as Tomek Bork)
    Bruce Myers
    • Czech Editor
    Pavel Slabý
    • Pavel's Nephew
    • (as Pavel Slaby)
    Pascale Kalensky
    • Nurse Katya
    Jacques Ciron
    • Swiss Restaurant Manager
    Anne Lonnberg
    Anne Lonnberg
    • Swiss Photographer
    László Szabó
    László Szabó
    • Russian Interrogator
    • (as Laszlo Szabo)
    Vladimír Valenta
    • Mayor
    Clovis Cornillac
    Clovis Cornillac
    • Boy in Bar
      • Philip Kaufman
      • Milan Kundera(novel)
      • Jean-Claude Carrière(screenplay)
      • Philip Kaufman(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      According to Lena Olin, she met co-star Daniel Day-Lewis on her first day on the set and, according to the schedule, had to do one of the film's most intense nude love scenes with him that very day.
    • Goofs
      Mephisto the Pig, consistently referred to as "he", is a sow, as can be seen frequently, but particularly when the group enters the inn for dancing.
    • Quotes

      Tereza: I know I'm supposed to help you, but I can't. Instead of being your support I'm your weight. Life is very heavy to me, but it is so light to you. I can't bear this lightness, this freedom... I'm not strong enough.

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Shoot to Kill/The Serpent and the Rainbow/She's Having a Baby/The Unbearable Lightness of Being/School Daze (1988)

    User reviews148

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Too uneven and too long - but with great performances
    Although the screenplay is based on the great and world-famous book by Milan Kundera, it was written by others (Jean-Claude Carrière and the director Philip Kaufman) and thus lost its original touch and approach - as was pointed out by Kundera himself who withdrew from the outcome. On the other hand, fragile feelings, ponderings and internal doubts are very difficult to express on the screen - without losing the pace and uniformity of the plot. It is also pity that Prague was not / could not been used, as it is a beautiful city and gives more realism than the French places used. Depicion of the socialist/communist oppression is, however, rather perfunctory, seeming not so serious as it really was in the 1970ies within the Warsaw block when hopes of intellectuals for the so-called human-faced socialism vanished as liberal steps were diminished or repealed.

    The cast is, of course, brilliant, in particular the bohemian ménage à trois members: Daniel Day-Lewis as Tomas, Juliette Binoche as Tereza and Lena Olin as Sabina - all later multiple Academy Award winners and/or nominees, and from different European countries (the movie itself is still the US one). They and some other fine European actors have provided the movie a real European atmosphere, without a Hollywood studio feeling as sometimes perceived in "older" movies.

    Nevertheless, The Unbearable Lightness of Being is still a movie high above average, enhancing historical facts as well. But it is hard to say whether is is recommendable to read the book before or after...
    helpful•8
    1
    • BeneCumb
    • Mar 13, 2013

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 5, 1988 (United States)
      • United States
      • Juliette Binoche: The Art of Being - Official Fansite
      • MGM
      • English
      • Czech
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Prague, Czech Republic
    • Production company
      • The Saul Zaentz Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 2 hours 51 minutes
      • Dolby Stereo

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