The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
American director Philip Kaufman puts forth this adaptation of Milan Kundera’s 1982 novel, accompanied by a European cast. Set in 1968 Prague, the background for the film, as well as the novel, is the impact of the Stalinist regime upon artists and intellectuals during the Soviet invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia. Sven Nykvist, Ingmar Bergman’s cinematographer, weaves archival images of the invasion with the constructed world of the film.
The interpersonal relations of a love triangle illustrate the central motifs of the story. Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis), a well-respected surgeon with a penchant for sexual wanderlust and political indifference, falls in love with and marries Tereza (Juliette Binoche), a photographer with the weight of the world on her shoulders. The couple’s closest friend and confidant, Sabina (Lena Olin), is an artist that lives and loves freely, yet not unhindered.
Kundera does damage to the permanence of classic narrative structure, rather emphasizing the transience of meaning, hence “the unbearable lightness of being.” Living up to our utopian values is our anguish. The seeming lightness of that idea of perfection is what becomes the weight that ultimately brings us back down to the earth, to the dirt, to the inescapably mundane. Themes of the ambiguity of life and the transgressive nature of the erotic are essential to the spirit of the novel and are enhanced by the movement and fluidity of music. Kaufman works well with these themes, thus those who enjoy The Unbearable Lightness will likely also enjoy Henry and June and Quills.
Jennifer Dawson
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Grading
- Story A-
- Acting A
- Visuals A-
- Originality/Innovation B+
- Enjoyability A-
- Overall B+
- DVD Extras B
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