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The Unbearable Lightness of Being

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Videos & Photos

  • Official Trailer

Movie Info & Cast

Synopsis

In Philip Kaufman's surprisingly successful film adaptation of Czech author Milan Kundera's demanding 1984 bestseller, Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Tomas, an overly amorous Prague surgeon, while Juliette Binoche plays Tereza, the waiflike beauty whom he marries. Even though he's supposedly committed, Tomas continues his wanton womanizing, notably with his silken mistress Sabina (Lena Olin). Escaping the 1968 Russian invasion of Prague by heading for Geneva, Sabina takes up with another man and unexpectedly develops a friendship with Tereza. Meanwhile, Tomas, who previously was interested only in sex, becomes politicized by the collapse of Czechoslovakia's Dubcek regime. The Unbearable Lightness of Being may be too leisurely for some viewers, but other viewers may feel the same warm sense of inner satisfaction that is felt after finishing a good, long novel.~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

  • Daniel Day-Lewis
  • Juliette Binoche
  • Lena Olin
  • Derek de Lint
  • Erland Josephson
  • Pavel Landovský
  • Donald Moffat
  • Daniel Olbrychski
  • Stellan Skarsgard

Atom User Reviews

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Metacritic

100

There is a lot of nudity in the film but no pornographic documentary quality; the camera does not linger, or move for the best view, or relish the spectacle of nudity. The result is some of the most poignant, almost sad, sex scenes I have ever seen - sensuous, yes, but bittersweet.

Metacritic review by Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
60

Mr. Day-Lewis, Miss Binoche and Miss Olin (who was spectacular in Ingmar Bergman's ''After the Rehearsal'') are surprisingly fine -both modest and intense as lovers whose private lives are defined by public events.

Metacritic review by Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
The New York Times
60

For all its real achievements, including a stomach-clutching re-creation of the Soviet invasion of Prague, and for all its uncoy acknowledgment of the power of sexuality, the film ultimately adds up to the unbearable heaviness of movie-making.

Metacritic review by Sheila Benson
Sheila Benson
Los Angeles Times