The Unbearable Lightness of Being (film)
Encyclopedia
The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a 1988 American film adaptation of the novel of the same name
by Milan Kundera
, published in 1984. Director Philip Kaufman
and screenplay
writer Jean-Claude Carrière
show Czechoslovak artistic and intellectual life during the Prague Spring
of the Communist period, before the Soviet
and Warsaw Pact invasion
in August 1968, and detail the moral–political effects and personal consequences upon a bohemian
ménage à trois
: a medical doctor and his two women.
), a lothario
who is a successful medical doctor in Communist Czechoslovakia. His lover, Sabina (Lena Olin
), is an equally care-free artist. One day, Dr Tomas leaves Prague to operate on a man in a spa town
. There, he meets the waitress Tereza (Juliette Binoche
), who dreams of escaping her small town life. She follows him to Prague and cohabits with him, complicating Tomas's extra-domestic sexual affairs.
Tomas asks Sabina to help Tereza find work as a photographer. Tereza is fascinated and jealous as she grasps that Sabina and Tomas are lovers. Her distress about his polyamory
is interrupted by the Soviet Army tanks invading Czechoslovakia. Amidst the confusion, Tereza photographs the Soviet invasion, then hands the rolls of film to foreigners to smuggle to the West. Facing the stultifying reality that replaced the Prague Spring, Tomas, Sabina, and Tereza flee Czechoslovakia for Switzerland; first Sabina, then the hesitant Tomas and Tereza.
In Geneva
, Sabina meets Franz (Derek de Lint
), a married university professor; they begin a love affair. After some time, he decides to abandon his wife and family for her. After hearing the declaration, Sabina abandons Franz, feeling he would emotionally weigh her down. Meanwhile, Tereza and Tomas attempt to adapt to Switzerland, whose people Tereza finds inhospitable. When she discovers that Tomas continues womanizing, she leaves him and Switzerland, and returns to Czechoslovakia. Upset by her leaving, Tomas follows Tereza to Czechoslovakia, where his passport is confiscated, locking him in-country; nevertheless, his return elates Tereza. They are re-united.
In Prague
, Tomas tries recovering his old brain surgeon hospital job, but the Soviet-backed régime consider him politically incorrect
and prevent his re-employment. Before the invasion, Tomas wrote an article comparing the Soviets to Oedipus Rex; noting that Oedipus plucked out his eyes upon understanding his crime, but that the autocracy could see everything but its crimes. The régime demands his signature to a letter repudiating the article. Tomas refuses, and is black-listed
from practicing medicine; he works as a window washer, and continues womanizing.
Working as a waitress, Tereza meets an engineer who propositions her. Aware of Tomas's infidelity, she enters a one-time and unpleasant sexual liaison with the engineer. Remorseful, she fears the engineer might have been a secret agent for the régime, who might blackmail her and Tomas. She contemplates suicide, which Tomas thwarts.
Stressed by insubstantial city life, Tereza convinces Tomas to leave Prague for the country; they go to a village where an old patient of Tomas' welcomes them. In the village, they live a farm idyll, far from the political intrigues of Prague. In contrast, Sabina has gone to the US, where she continues in the detached bohemian
style of life. Later, Sabina is shocked by the letter telling of the deaths of Tereza and Tomas in a road accident while returning after celebrating in another town. Their lightness no longer unbearable, Tereza and Tomas were deeply happy as they drove toward death.
, but it features a largely European cast, including Daniel Day-Lewis
(British), Juliette Binoche
(French), Lena Olin
and Stellan Skarsgård
(Swedish) and Derek de Lint
(Dutch). It was filmed in France rather than Czechoslovakia; in the scenes depicting the Soviet invasion, archival footage is combined with new material shot in Lyon
. The scene in which Tomas is seduced by a woman while cleaning windows was shot in the then unrestored Hôtel de Beauvais
in the 4th arrondissement of Paris (now the Administrative Appeal Court).
(film criticism aggregation website) rates The Unbearable Lightness of Being as 94% "fresh" (positive).
The American Film Institute
lists it as one of the top 100 love stories in American Cinema.
Kundera himself was unhappy with the finished product, however, feeling most of the existential elements had been removed or diluted, and has since added a notice inside of all his work that it may not be adapted by anyone in any way.
and also Marta Kubišová
singing Hey Jude
in Czech
.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Unbearable Lightness of Being , written by Milan Kundera, is a philosophical novel about two men, two women, a dog and their lives in the Prague Spring of the Czechoslovak Communist period in 1968. Although written in 1982, the novel was not published until two years later, in France...
by Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera , born 1 April 1929, is a writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He is best known as the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and The Joke. Kundera has written in...
, published in 1984. Director Philip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman is an American film director and screenwriter. His movies have adapted novels of widely different types – from Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun; from Tom Wolfe’s heroic epic The Right Stuff to the erotic writings of Anaïs Nin’s...
and screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
writer Jean-Claude Carrière
Jean-Claude Carrière
Jean-Claude Carrière is a screenwriter and actor. Alumnus of the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud, he was a frequent collaborator with Luis Buñuel...
show Czechoslovak artistic and intellectual life during the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
of the Communist period, before the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Warsaw Pact invasion
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
On the night of 20–21 August 1968, the Soviet Union and her main satellite states in the Warsaw Pact – Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic , Hungary and Poland – invaded the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in order to halt Alexander Dubček's Prague Spring political liberalization...
in August 1968, and detail the moral–political effects and personal consequences upon a bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
ménage à trois
Ménage à trois
Ménage à trois is a French term which originally described a domestic arrangement in which three people having sexual relations occupy the same household – the phrase literally translates as "household of three"...
: a medical doctor and his two women.
Plot
The Unbearable Lightness of Being introduces Czech brain surgeon Tomas (Daniel Day-LewisDaniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
), a lothario
Lothario
Lothario is a male first name which came to connote an unscrupulous seducer of women.In The Impertinent Curiosity, a story-within-the-story in Don Quixote , by Miguel de Cervantes, a man named Anselmo coerces Lothario, his faithful friend, to test the virtue of Anselmo's wife, Camila...
who is a successful medical doctor in Communist Czechoslovakia. His lover, Sabina (Lena Olin
Lena Olin
Lena Maria Jonna Olin is a Swedish actress.-Early life:Olin was born the youngest of three children, in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the daughter of actress Britta Holmberg and the director Stig Olin...
), is an equally care-free artist. One day, Dr Tomas leaves Prague to operate on a man in a spa town
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
. There, he meets the waitress Tereza (Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...
), who dreams of escaping her small town life. She follows him to Prague and cohabits with him, complicating Tomas's extra-domestic sexual affairs.
Tomas asks Sabina to help Tereza find work as a photographer. Tereza is fascinated and jealous as she grasps that Sabina and Tomas are lovers. Her distress about his polyamory
Polyamory
Polyamory is the practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved....
is interrupted by the Soviet Army tanks invading Czechoslovakia. Amidst the confusion, Tereza photographs the Soviet invasion, then hands the rolls of film to foreigners to smuggle to the West. Facing the stultifying reality that replaced the Prague Spring, Tomas, Sabina, and Tereza flee Czechoslovakia for Switzerland; first Sabina, then the hesitant Tomas and Tereza.
In Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Sabina meets Franz (Derek de Lint
Derek de Lint
Dick Hein de Lint is a Dutch film and television actor.De Lint was born in The Hague. In 1977, he played the character Alex in the film Soldier of Orange, directed by Paul Verhoeven. In 1986 he played the role of Anton Steenwijk in The Assault, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language...
), a married university professor; they begin a love affair. After some time, he decides to abandon his wife and family for her. After hearing the declaration, Sabina abandons Franz, feeling he would emotionally weigh her down. Meanwhile, Tereza and Tomas attempt to adapt to Switzerland, whose people Tereza finds inhospitable. When she discovers that Tomas continues womanizing, she leaves him and Switzerland, and returns to Czechoslovakia. Upset by her leaving, Tomas follows Tereza to Czechoslovakia, where his passport is confiscated, locking him in-country; nevertheless, his return elates Tereza. They are re-united.
In Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Tomas tries recovering his old brain surgeon hospital job, but the Soviet-backed régime consider him politically incorrect
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
and prevent his re-employment. Before the invasion, Tomas wrote an article comparing the Soviets to Oedipus Rex; noting that Oedipus plucked out his eyes upon understanding his crime, but that the autocracy could see everything but its crimes. The régime demands his signature to a letter repudiating the article. Tomas refuses, and is black-listed
Black List
Black List is the second of two L.A. Guns compilation albums featuring their third singer Paul Black.-Track listing:#"Stranded in L.A."#"L.A.P.D."#"Show No Mercy"#"One More Reason to Die"#"Looking Over My Shoulder"#"Love & Hate"#"On And On"...
from practicing medicine; he works as a window washer, and continues womanizing.
Working as a waitress, Tereza meets an engineer who propositions her. Aware of Tomas's infidelity, she enters a one-time and unpleasant sexual liaison with the engineer. Remorseful, she fears the engineer might have been a secret agent for the régime, who might blackmail her and Tomas. She contemplates suicide, which Tomas thwarts.
Stressed by insubstantial city life, Tereza convinces Tomas to leave Prague for the country; they go to a village where an old patient of Tomas' welcomes them. In the village, they live a farm idyll, far from the political intrigues of Prague. In contrast, Sabina has gone to the US, where she continues in the detached bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
style of life. Later, Sabina is shocked by the letter telling of the deaths of Tereza and Tomas in a road accident while returning after celebrating in another town. Their lightness no longer unbearable, Tereza and Tomas were deeply happy as they drove toward death.
Production
The film is a United States production and was directed by an American director, Philip KaufmanPhilip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman is an American film director and screenwriter. His movies have adapted novels of widely different types – from Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun; from Tom Wolfe’s heroic epic The Right Stuff to the erotic writings of Anaïs Nin’s...
, but it features a largely European cast, including Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
(British), Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...
(French), Lena Olin
Lena Olin
Lena Maria Jonna Olin is a Swedish actress.-Early life:Olin was born the youngest of three children, in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the daughter of actress Britta Holmberg and the director Stig Olin...
and Stellan Skarsgård
Stellan Skarsgård
Stellan John Skarsgård is a Swedish actor, known internationally for his film roles in Angels & Demons, Breaking the Waves, The Hunt for Red October, Ronin, Good Will Hunting, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist,...
(Swedish) and Derek de Lint
Derek de Lint
Dick Hein de Lint is a Dutch film and television actor.De Lint was born in The Hague. In 1977, he played the character Alex in the film Soldier of Orange, directed by Paul Verhoeven. In 1986 he played the role of Anton Steenwijk in The Assault, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language...
(Dutch). It was filmed in France rather than Czechoslovakia; in the scenes depicting the Soviet invasion, archival footage is combined with new material shot in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
. The scene in which Tomas is seduced by a woman while cleaning windows was shot in the then unrestored Hôtel de Beauvais
Hôtel de Beauvais
The Hôtel de Beauvais is a hôtel particulier located in Paris in the 4th arrondissement at 68 rue Francois-Miron . It was built by the royal architect Antoine Le Pautre for Catherine Beauvais in 1657...
in the 4th arrondissement of Paris (now the Administrative Appeal Court).
Cast
- Daniel Day-LewisDaniel Day-LewisDaniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
as Tomas - Juliette BinocheJuliette BinocheJuliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...
as Tereza - Lena OlinLena OlinLena Maria Jonna Olin is a Swedish actress.-Early life:Olin was born the youngest of three children, in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the daughter of actress Britta Holmberg and the director Stig Olin...
as Sabina - Derek de LintDerek de LintDick Hein de Lint is a Dutch film and television actor.De Lint was born in The Hague. In 1977, he played the character Alex in the film Soldier of Orange, directed by Paul Verhoeven. In 1986 he played the role of Anton Steenwijk in The Assault, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language...
as Franz - Erland JosephsonErland JosephsonErland Josephson is a Swedish actor and author. He is best known to international audiences for his work in films directed by Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Theodoros Angelopoulos.-Biography:...
as Ambassador - Pavel LandovskýPavel LandovskýPavel Landovský is a Czech actor, playwright and director.Landovský studied at the Faculty of Theatre in Prague and then played in regional theaters in Teplice, Šumperk, Klatovy and Pardubice. He wrote his first play Hodinový hoteliér premiered at the Činoherní theater on 11 May 1969.In 1971 he...
as Pavel - Donald MoffatDonald MoffatDonald Moffat is an English-born actor, now a naturalized American citizen.-Early life:Moffat was born in Plymouth, Devon, the only child of Kathleen Mary and Walter George Moffat, who was an insurance agent. His parents ran a boarding house in Totnes...
as Chief Surgeon - Tomek Bork as Jiri
- Daniel OlbrychskiDaniel OlbrychskiDaniel Olbrychski is a Polish actor best known for leading roles in several Andrzej Wajda movies and also known for playing the Russian defector and spymaster Vassily Orlov, alongside Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie in the movie Salt....
as Interior Ministry Official - Stellan SkarsgårdStellan SkarsgårdStellan John Skarsgård is a Swedish actor, known internationally for his film roles in Angels & Demons, Breaking the Waves, The Hunt for Red October, Ronin, Good Will Hunting, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist,...
as The Engineer - Bruce Myers as Czech Editor
- Pavel Slaby as Pavel's Nephew
- Pascale Kalensky as Nurse Katja
- Jacques Ciron as Swiss Restaurant Manager
- Anne LonnbergAnne LonnbergAnne Lonnberg is a Swedish-American actress and singer.- Biography :Lonnberg was born in Berkeley, California to a Swedish father. She began her acting career in 1965, starring mostly in Greek films. She has appeared throughout her career in a number of American and French films and television...
as Swiss Photographer
Adaptation
Kundera served as an active (but uncredited) 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.Reception
The film garnered high praise from critics. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
(film criticism aggregation website) rates The Unbearable Lightness of Being as 94% "fresh" (positive).
The American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
lists it as one of the top 100 love stories in American Cinema.
Kundera himself was unhappy with the finished product, however, feeling most of the existential elements had been removed or diluted, and has since added a notice inside of all his work that it may not be adapted by anyone in any way.
Soundtrack
The film makes extensive use of music by Leoš JanáčekLeoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
and also Marta Kubišová
Marta Kubišová
Marta Kubišová is a Czech singer of iconic significance. By the time of the Prague Spring of 1968, with her song "Modlitba pro Martu" , she was one of the most popular female singers in Czechoslovakia.In 1967 she won Zlatý slavík award...
singing Hey Jude
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce—although this explanation is not...
in Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
.
External links
- Criterion Collection essay by Michael SragowMichael SragowMichael Sragow is a film critic and columnist who has written for The Baltimore Sun, The New Times, The New Yorker , The Atlantic and salon.com...
- Movie Stills at Virtual History