| The Unbearable Lightness of Being | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Philip Kaufman |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on | The Unbearable Lightness of Being byMilan Kundera |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Sven Nykvist |
| Edited by | Walter Murch |
| Music by | Mark Adler |
Production company | The Saul Zaentz Company |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 171 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $17 million |
| Box office | $10 million |
The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a 1988 Americanromantic drama film, an adaptation of the1984 novel byMilan Kundera. It was directed byPhilip Kaufman, who co-wrote the screenplay withJean-Claude Carrière, and starsDaniel Day-Lewis,Juliette Binoche andLena Olin. The film portraysCzechoslovak artistic and intellectual life during thePrague Spring, and the characters' romantic lives amid the Soviet repression that resulted from theWarsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.
Tomas, a successful brain surgeon incommunist Czechoslovakia, is pursuing an affair with equally carefree Sabina, an artist inPrague. Tomas takes a trip to a spa town to conduct a specialized surgery. There he encounters dissatisfied waitress Tereza, who desires intellectual stimulation. She later tracks him down in Prague and moves in with him, complicating Tomas's affairs.
Tomas asks Sabina to help Tereza find work as a photographer. Tereza is both fascinated and jealous when she grasps that Sabina and Tomas are lovers, but nevertheless still develops an affectionate friendship with Sabina. Tomas marries Tereza in a simple ceremony, with both perpetually laughing. She continues to be distressed by Tomas's promiscuity, and though she considers leaving him, she becomes more attached when theSoviet Army invades Czechoslovakia. Amid the confusion, Tereza photographs demonstrations against the Soviet forces, then hands the rolls of film to foreigners to smuggle to the West. Unwilling to face the stultifyingpolice state that is replacing thePrague Spring, Tomas, Sabina, and Tereza flee Czechoslovakia for Switzerland; Sabina leaves first, later followed by the hesitant Tomas and Tereza.
InGeneva, Sabina meets Franz, a married university professor; they begin a love affair. He eventually decides to abandon his wife and family for her. After hearing his plans, Sabina abandons him, feeling he would emotionally weigh her down. Meanwhile, Tereza and Tomas attempt to adapt to Switzerland, but Tereza finds theSwiss inhospitable. When she discovers that Tomas continues to womanize, she leaves him and returns to Czechoslovakia. Upset by her leaving, Tomas follows Tereza to Czechoslovakia, where his passport is confiscated, preventing him from leaving again; his return elates Tereza, and they are reunited.
Tomas attempts to resume his practice, but a scathing article he wrote before the invasion, criticizing the Soviet-backed Czechoslovak régime, has rendered him a politicaldissident. The régime demands his signature to a letter repudiating the article, claiming that Tomas's article fueledanti-communist sentiment. Tomas refuses and is apparentlyblacklisted from practicing medicine. He finds work as a window washer and continues to womanize, being seduced by the daughter of a high-ranking Party official who appears to recognize him.
As a waitress, Tereza meets an engineer who propositions her. Aware of Tomas's infidelities, she engages in a single, passionless sexual liaison with the engineer. Remorseful, she fears the engineer might have been an informant for theStBsecret police, who might denounce her and Tomas. She contemplates suicide at a canal bank; by chance, Tomas passes by Tereza and woos her back.
Stressed by city life, Tereza urges Tomas to leave Prague. He reminds her of his passport being confiscated. Tereza has an idea and convinces Tomas to move to the countryside; they go to a village where an old patient of Tomas's welcomes them. In the village, they live an idyllic life, far from the political intrigues of Prague. In contrast, Sabina has gone to the US, where she continues her debauchedbohemian lifestyle. Later, Sabina is shocked by a letter that informs her that Tereza and Tomas have been in a fatal automobile accident on a country road.
The movie ends with Tomas and Tereza driving down a country road in the rain in a farm truck just before their accident, as Tomas peacefully expresses to Tereza how happy he now feels.
The film was an American production with an American director, Philip Kaufman, but it features a largely European cast. It was filmed in France; in the scenes depicting the Soviet invasion, archival footage is combined with new material shot inLyon. The scene in which Tomas has sex with a woman while cleaning windows was shot in the then unrestoredHôtel de Beauvais in the4th arrondissement of Paris (now the Administrative Appeal Court).
Kundera served as an active consultant during the making of the film. Kundera wrote the poem that Tomas whispers into Tereza's ear as she is falling asleep specifically for the film.[1]
In a note to the Czech edition of the book, Kundera remarks that the movie had very little to do with the spirit either of the novel or the characters in it.[2] In the same note Kundera goes on to say that after this experience he no longer allows any adaptations of his work.
Many critics have focused on how much of the book was successfully captured, or could be captured, on film. Some commentators, such as Cattrysse Patrick, have argued that the film must be viewed in a different light, with the book as only one source of inspiration.[3]
The film makes extensive use of classical pieces by Czech composerLeoš Janáček, especially his "On an Overgrown Path" piano compositions. It also features a performance ofthe Beatles' song "Hey Jude" byMarta Kubišová inCzech as well as the traditional Czechoslovakfolk song "Joj, Joj, Joj", performed byJarmila Šuláková and Vojtěch Jochec.
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The film garnered high praise from critics. It holds an approval rating of 86% on the review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, based on 29 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Exploring sexual mores against the backdrop of real-life social upheaval,The Unbearable Lightness of Being artfully blends the political and the erotic."[4]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[5]
The film was nominated for twoAcademy Awards:Jean-Claude Carrière andPhilip Kaufman forBest Adapted Screenplay[6] andSven Nykvist forBest Cinematography. The film was listed 87th by theAmerican Film Institute in its 2002 listAFI's 100 Years...100 Passions.[7]
It was released onVHS andBetamax on December 29, 1988.[8] A digitally restored version of the film was released on DVD byThe Criterion Collection in November 1999. The release includes audio commentary by director Philip Kaufman, co-writer Jean-Claude Carrière, editor Walter Murch, and actress Lena Olin.[9] It was re-released on DVD byWarner Home Video as a 2-disc special edition on February 28, 2006.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being was preserved by theAcademy Film Archive in 2019.[10]