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The Unbearable Lightness of Being

1987

Philip Kaufman

Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin, Stellan Skarsgård ...

6.5

4,031

Drama Based on the acclaimed novel by Milan Kundera, Kaufman’s film explores the highly active love life of a charming Czech surgeon (Day-Lewis) against the backdrop of the Prague Spring of 1968 and the subsequent Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Real footage of the military crackdown and street violence is woven into the humorous, voyeuristic tale of a man who lives “light” (his request to “take off your clothes” becomes the film’s mantra) ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Vincent Canby The New York Times	"What remains is not exactly bowdlerized Kundera but, even with all the care, intelligence and eroticism that have gone into it, it's a bit zombie-like."	NEU
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"What is remarkable about 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being,' however, is not the sexual content itself, but the way Kaufman has been able to use it as an avenue for a complex story (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Desson Thomson The Washington Post	"[In the novel] the characters are pawns on a complex, philosophical chessboard (...) In his adaptation, director Phil Kaufman films the pawns (...) But without Kundera's connecting presence and voice, the result is closer to Chinese checkers than chess"	NEG
United States	Variety	"[A] richly satisfying adaptation (...) The sexuality which drenches the entire film possesses a great buoyancy and spirit in the first act"	POS
United States	Sheila Benson Los Angeles Times	"The film ultimately adds up to the unbearable heaviness of movie-making."	NEG
United States	Keith Phipps AV Club	"Its sex scenes aren't as notable for their lustiness (though it's best not to understate how sexy they are) as for how much Kaufman and his actors say with only body language."	POS
United Kingdom	Colin Kennedy Empire	"[It] is perfectly cast (...) It’s arguably every bit as good as Stanley Kubrick’s 'Lolita' (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"[A] visually expansive but intellectually and formally simplified adaptation (...) [It] shortchanges the original by making virtually all of the action strictly linear and eliminating most of the essayistic material"	NEU

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