The Unbearable Lightness of Being | | Cast : | Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche | | Director : | Philip Kaufman | | Studio : | Home Vision Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Dolby, Widescreen | | Released Date : | February 05, 1988 | | DVD Released Date : | July 24, 2001 | | Language : | English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 22, 2005 | | Summary | More than bearable | Content
 | I first watched this film when it came out in 1988. The ease with which it depicted sexual relationships was perhaps different than any film I had seen up until then. The irony of the film's title incorporates this attitude, contrasting it with the "heaviness" of everything else that life throws at you. Its message is perhaps (I'm guessing) that even when we are happy, and life is refreshingly `easy,' we tend to gravitate to that which will undo this, that which will put us into turmoil and confrontation; we simply can't bear to be happy for too long, for fear that the happiness itself will turn against us, never to be experienced again.
As for the film itself, it's very good. Daniel Day Lewis, Juliette Binoche, and Lena Olin (wow!) are incredible. What they do between lines is a lesson in fine acting.
Why four stars? Although I thought the acting was first-rate, the characters and the plot were just very good--not inspiringly great. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 01, 2005 | | Summary | Length makes the "lightness" feel heavy | Content
| Based faithfully on the book by Milan Kundera, a non-political Lothario doctor in Prague in 1968 comes to grips with two things in his life: his love for one woman and a commitment to the political uprising in his homeland. Because of the latter he is no longer allowed to practice medicine and is forced to live on a farm in poverty. His love for the woman, too, has been put to the test, yet he sticks with her, even though it means returning to his country after being given exile in France.
The themes are intelligent and interesting, but the development is too slow: the movie is much too long at nearly 3 hours. Scenes seemed to be dragged out interminably, especially those in Paris as he weighs his conscience regarding his love and his homeland, and near the end on the farm. Because of this the movie as a whole seems to lack focus. But this is compensated for in the story's interest. The sex scenes are very sensual. Worth a watch. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 03, 2005 | | Summary | Timeless | Content
| This film is by far one of the best ever produced: It`s erotic, humoures, sad, poetic and the protagonists are all interesting. Now, this is why many Europeans critizise American films.... They feel most productions from the US are stereotyped, all glam and over the top, while the European productions tend to move more straightforward into our human soul.... This film is one of those glorious occasions when film is high art and linked to the freespirited human soul. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 01, 2004 | | Summary | Sad Yet Beautiful | Content
| The unbearable lightness of being is the ability to give your body without becomimg emotionally involved. This is no problem for the hero of this film, but it is a wrenching experience for the heroine, who believes in emotional and physical fidelity to her mate, and cannot change her feelings. This film explores the difference between the two, and the pain that one causes the other by his "lightness of being".
Towards the end the movie becomes a tearjerker, so be ready to cry your eyes out. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 22, 2004 | | Summary | the ubearable pain to watch | Content
| This movie is the lamest peice of pseudo-intellectual crap I have ever seen. It is painfully self-serious and a major bore. This is porn for those who would never confess that they watch porn. If you want to see a good movie about human relations, go get "Besieged" by Bertolucci. |
|
Picture 01 (20)
