Product: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Two-Disc Special Edition) (2006)
Rating: 5.0
Kaufman's masterpiece
Now this is a movie!Perhaps the most amazing thing about this film is that an American directed it. It feels so European, and not faux-European--it needs to be done this way. Or perhaps it's really not so surprising, on second thought. I've long observed how European or Europe-born directors make the best American films (Louis Malle with Atlantic City, Roman Polanski with Chinatown, even Paul Mazursky with Moscow on the Hudson), so why not the reverse?At any rate, after making a somewhat cynical American movie (The Right Stuff), Kaufman reinvented himself as his exact polar opposite, directing this relatively innocent film about the "Prague Spring" and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. I say "innocent" even though the film is best remembered (in Puritan America at least) for the explicit sex scenes that, to me, are not shocking and are not even the first thing (or second, or third) to come to mind when I think of this marvelous film. Instead I remember Sabina's hat, the quiet moments between her and Tomas, and the feeling pervading the film that life is fleeting, happiness elusive, and life-altering changes lurk around every corner. Instead I marvel at how the film manages to *suggest* the existential novel it came from, even though Kaufman chose not to try to adapt the huge existential portions of Kundera's book. This is a movie about time and place, and indentity, or lack of it; about commitment, about how heavy life seems or doesn't seem dependant upon the government you are stuck with. This is a movie about freedom, who can handle it, and who can't. This is a movie about courage, who has it and who doesn't, and I don't mean just the people who stood up on the tanks. Recall that the young and very verbal doctor who was most enthusiastic about Tomas publishing his article is quickest to turn tail and embrace the communists after the invasion.Most of all this is a movie that realizes you don't have to have a linear plot to create great film--on the contrary, film embraces such nonlinear story-telling. At the same time, Kaufman never feels compelled to venture into surrealism or symbolism. (He did consider it for the ending, as he reveals on the commentary track.) For some reason all this, and a genuine ignorance of Czech culture and history, has made this film a little tough for many American critics and viewers to swallow. They give it polite, superficial praise, but reading between the lines we get the feeling some of them are saying "What's it *really* about, beyond great sex?"Both Daniel Day Lewis and Lena Olin are excellent, and of course Olin's performance has received much attention and commentary because of her high-octane sex scenes (though comparisons to Last Tango seem wrong to me; LT was very cynical in is treatment of male-female relationships, whereas what makes this film work so well is the fact that it's rather innocent in that way). But the real standout--one of the greatest performances I've ever seen on a movie screen--belongs to Juliette Binoche. Her Tereza is attractive but gawky, poised by awkward, shy yet take-charge when it's needed. She is meek around Tomas yet grabs her camera and runs fearlessly into danger when the Russians invade. Binoche's performance is so astonishing we can reconcile these contradictions and in fact don't even question them. That she was never Oscar-nominated is astonishing. (This film received a grand total of two nominations and no awards--proof, if it was needed, that the Academy is retarded, considering such second-rate films as The Accidental Tourist and Rain Man took home big trophies.)Criterion's DVD is very fine, though a little short on extras. (Not even a trailer!) There are, however, fascinating commentaries by Kaufman, screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere, Lena Olin and others. I would have liked a "Making of" featurette too, but that's because I'm greedy. The picture is dark and solid as you'd expect from cinematographer Sven Nykvist, although on a large-screen TV you see more scratches and dust than maybe should be in such an important release. The sound very good if not THX-caliber, but this film doesn't need it.Yet another film on my favorites list that no one would dare make today. Recently this has been reissued on a double-DVD set. I haven't seen the new incarnation, but I understand from reviews the movie is *split over two discs.* While the film is longish, it can fit on one disc, as it does here. Also, the new documentary apparently contains comments from mostly the same people who are on the commentary track, so the material largely duplicates said track. Also the commentary track on the new edition is reportedly exactly the same as this Criterion edition. Given all that, I see no compelling reason to buy the new version, but I do wish someone would put out a definitive and richly detailed DVD of ULoB (how about some commentary from author Kundera?) someday.