After watching this during a surreal snow storm outside, I can honestly say I have thought more about this review than any other. Not that my brain has been damaged by the amount of booze consumed during last night's Superbowl, oh no. Nor is it due to a particular fondness for Juliette Binoche. You see, in terms of cinematic value, this is a breath-taking exercise in film-making. Every shot feel lovingly crafted, every line of dialogue is poetry and the editing is some of the best I have seen. It's just that, in terms of entertainment, I personally found it uninvolving at times and a bit dull. Call me what you will but on some levels, it just didn't work.
Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Milan Kundera, "The Unbearable Lightness Of Being" takes us back to Prague in the days before Soviet occupation. Care-free surgeon Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis) spends his days sleeping around, usually with his bohemian artist lover Sabina (Lena Olin) and occasionally doing some work when he's not chatting up the nurses. After being sent to a nearby town to treat a patient, he meets the beautiful Tereza (Binoche) and against his will, Tomas falls for her after she follows him back to Prague. Gradually, Tereza and Tomas are accepted by Sabina and the three strike an unusual friendship - a friendship forever altered by the dramatic invasion of the Soviet forces and their subsequent emigration to Switzerland.
I'm still not sure exactly where I stand on this film. Feeling reminiscent of "Lust, Caution" (which isn't a bad yardstick, as things go), there is not a single frame of this picture that looks anything less than beautiful despite the occasionally bleak subject matter. Olin and Binoche are brilliant but strangely, Daniel Day-Lewis lets the side down. He comes across as a selfish, manipulative dandy and I found it difficult to emphasise with him. I also felt he looked like Ben Stiller going through college and once that thought was there, it stuck! The supporting cast, largely unknown to most English-speaking audiences, were all faultless and deserve as much credit as the director for creating a sublime, smouldering masterpiece. The story also had its moments where it was genuinely upsetting but for the most part, it lacked any sort of narrative. It seemed to wander at will, from country to country, with little to link it like a bad James Bond movie. It also isn't as controversial as it would like you to believe - the sex, while moderately graphic, isn't a patch on what we see in mainstream movies today. This is no "Monster's Ball".
Maybe I'm missing something. At times, I felt like the movie was talking to me on a different intellectual plain that I couldn't understand and the fact that a lot of dialogue seems to be whispered didn't help - I needed the DVD's subtitles, that's for sure. It doesn't confuse you like "Donnie Darko" did but instead tests every sinew of attention as there's every chance that a small but vital line is missed or overlooked. So I'm afraid that "The Unbearable Lightness Of Being" didn't float my boat as I was hoping it would but it is a glorious, beautiful film which looks and sounds the business (despite its age) but doesn't offer much in the way of entertainment. Personally, I think that "Secretary" is a better kooky and controversial romance than this is or even Binoche's other legendary skin-flick "Damage". This is more high-brow, thoughtful and European than that though and if you like a challenge then this could be the film for you.
Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Milan Kundera, "The Unbearable Lightness Of Being" takes us back to Prague in the days before Soviet occupation. Care-free surgeon Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis) spends his days sleeping around, usually with his bohemian artist lover Sabina (Lena Olin) and occasionally doing some work when he's not chatting up the nurses. After being sent to a nearby town to treat a patient, he meets the beautiful Tereza (Binoche) and against his will, Tomas falls for her after she follows him back to Prague. Gradually, Tereza and Tomas are accepted by Sabina and the three strike an unusual friendship - a friendship forever altered by the dramatic invasion of the Soviet forces and their subsequent emigration to Switzerland.
I'm still not sure exactly where I stand on this film. Feeling reminiscent of "Lust, Caution" (which isn't a bad yardstick, as things go), there is not a single frame of this picture that looks anything less than beautiful despite the occasionally bleak subject matter. Olin and Binoche are brilliant but strangely, Daniel Day-Lewis lets the side down. He comes across as a selfish, manipulative dandy and I found it difficult to emphasise with him. I also felt he looked like Ben Stiller going through college and once that thought was there, it stuck! The supporting cast, largely unknown to most English-speaking audiences, were all faultless and deserve as much credit as the director for creating a sublime, smouldering masterpiece. The story also had its moments where it was genuinely upsetting but for the most part, it lacked any sort of narrative. It seemed to wander at will, from country to country, with little to link it like a bad James Bond movie. It also isn't as controversial as it would like you to believe - the sex, while moderately graphic, isn't a patch on what we see in mainstream movies today. This is no "Monster's Ball".
Maybe I'm missing something. At times, I felt like the movie was talking to me on a different intellectual plain that I couldn't understand and the fact that a lot of dialogue seems to be whispered didn't help - I needed the DVD's subtitles, that's for sure. It doesn't confuse you like "Donnie Darko" did but instead tests every sinew of attention as there's every chance that a small but vital line is missed or overlooked. So I'm afraid that "The Unbearable Lightness Of Being" didn't float my boat as I was hoping it would but it is a glorious, beautiful film which looks and sounds the business (despite its age) but doesn't offer much in the way of entertainment. Personally, I think that "Secretary" is a better kooky and controversial romance than this is or even Binoche's other legendary skin-flick "Damage". This is more high-brow, thoughtful and European than that though and if you like a challenge then this could be the film for you.