About this product

Product Information

Set in 1960's Czechoslovakia, just prior to the Soviet invasion. A womanising brain surgeon, a naive young woman and a beautiful model become involved in an intense yet tragic love triangle.

Product Identifiers

ProducerSaul Zaentz

EAN7321900362269

eBay Product ID (ePID)3956140

Product Key Features

ActorDaniel Day-Lewis, Derek De Lint, Donald Moffat, Lena Olin, Erland Josephson, Juliette Binoche

Film/TV TitleThe Unbearable Lightness of Being

DirectorPhilip Kaufman

Release Year2003

FormatDVD

LanguageEnglish

FeaturesAudio Commentary\Emotional History the Making Of\Theatrical Trailer

GenreDrama, General

Run Time165 Mins

Additional Product Features

Certificate18

Number of Discs1

ComposerMark Adler, Ernie Fosselius

Production DesignerPierre Guffroy

Additional InformationTHE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING is a sensual and sensitive adaptation of Milan Kundera's tragicomic existentialist novel that follows the story of Thomas (Daniel Day Lewis), a womanising Czech doctor in 1968 Prague, prior to the Soviet invasion, whose sexual appetite is never fully satisfied. Thomas believes in keeping sexual gratification separate from love and finds true understanding and erotic bliss with Sabina (Lena Olin), a seductive and elusive artist. However, Thomas's understanding of love and commitment is challenged when he meets Tereza (Juliette Binoche), a sexually naive and innocent young woman who captures Thomas's fancy on an out-of-town business trip. When Tereza appears on his Prague doorstep, Thomas lets down his guard and allows the young woman to stay with him, breaking all his rules regarding the dangers of seductive entanglement. Despite his numerous affairs, Thomas falls deeply in love with Tereza, and they eventually marry. Sabina accepts Thomas's marriage to Tereza, but Tereza cannot accept Thomas's many lovers and is deeply hurt by her sly husband. Tereza's own sexual awakening and creative spirit is at the core of the film, as she is undeniably captivating to both Thomas and Sabina, who becomes her friend and artistic mentor. The three become involved in an intense love triangle that is eventually shattered by the violent Soviet invasion of 1968. Tereza's burgeoning photographic passion is documented in a creative black-and-white montage of the invasion, beautifully crafted by cinematographer Sven Nykvist. This captivating and brilliant literary adaptation is a subtle and complex character study in which Daniel Day Lewis, Lena Olin, and Juliette Binoche give magnificent lead performances.

ReviewsNew York Times - ...[Day-Lewis, Binoche and Olin] are surprisingly fine -- both modest and intense....Notably ambitious..., Los Angeles Times - ...Kaufman has made a fine-looking film. He has cast the three points of his erotic triangle bravely and adroitly..., Variety - ...Mature, serious and intellectual....Great films are seldom made from great novels, but THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING stands as a stunning and surprising exception...

ScreenwriterPhilip Kaufman, Jean-Claude Carriere

MusicLeos Janacek

AuthorMilan Kundera

EditorB. J. Sears, Walter Murch

Movie/TV TitleThe Unbearable Lightness Of Being

Director of PhotographySven Nykvist