Product: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Two-Disc Special Edition) (2006)
Rating: 4.0
Now That "Take Off Your Clothes" Isn't So Shocking Anymore, It Seems A More Solid Film
First a word about this version of the film:I didn't find that the extras in this two-disc offering added up to much more than a marketing ploy, but everyone will have a different opinion there. Fans will rave about this release, detractors will still say it does no justice to a superior novel, and most, like me, will fall somewhere in between. What did amaze me was how much better this movie looked on DVD than on the old VHS full-screen copy I have. In widescreen there's much more to see, and the scenery is a big part of this film, particularly during the tense moments between Tereza and the Soviet soldiers when life and death hung in the balance over possession of a camera.As for the actual movie:For those who don't know, this is the motion picture version of Czech writer Milan Kundera's novel about a libertine doctor, his wife, mistress, and their lives in Prague before, during, and after the Soviet crackdown of 1968. This is film that has its fair share of sex and nudity but it is one that never quite becomes as erotic as it is supposed to be or wishes it was. The Unbearable Lightness of Being is noteworthy because of fine performances by Daniel Day Lewis, Lena Olin, and Juliette Binoche, but to me and others who came of age after the Cold War, it seems a period piece rather than the revelation it probably was a generation back. It's no masterpiece, but it is a good film.