In 1968, a Czech doctor (Daniel Day-Lewis) with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.As someone who loves Milan Kundera, and considers him the greatest living novelist (as of 2015), this is a strange adaptation. While it has been several years since I read "Unbearable Lightness", I do not recall the preoccupation with sexuality. The Czech-Russian interaction is heavier in my mind. Of course, this could just be my memory and the aspects that stood out for me.In a note to the Czech edition of the book, Kundera himself remarks that the movie had very little to do with the spirit either of the novel or the characters in it. And that seems right to me, as the film completely removes the philosophy and reflections on Nietzsche. Jean-Claude Carrière and Philip Kaufman were nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, which is interesting: should adaptations be literal or merely inspirational?

Here is a late 60s period drama set in former Czechoslovakia. It is done in beautiful detail and atmosphere. Lena Olin certainly is the best of the leads during this movie, a quite long 2 hrs and 45 min or so. She fills many scenes with her fabulous eyes and vibrancy. The other leads are also pretty good. With so much runtime, the movie amply explores the characters and their development in the volatile and changing world of communism. It examines love and especially sexuality of characters. Juliette Binoche and Daniel Day Lewis round the competent cast. Directed by Phillip Kaufman very well. Some of the best scenes were in the well-created backdrop sets mimicking the communist state. (spoilers) The tragic ending seems a bit misplaced and almost a footnote, although the movie is taken from a novel so may be called for. I liked it and am glad to have watched 7.5/10

I watched this movie on Korean TV, when I was about 16. It was dubbed into Korean, and I did not bother to try to understand it (English is my native language); actually I didn't even pay full attention to the video images, other than the sex scenes. Basically, it seemed to be about this (French?) poet-philosopher guy (Daniel Day Lewis), kinda crazy, who just goes around having sex with women. The sex scenes seemed pretty intense, with loud moans and shrieks by the women. The rest of the movie seemed boring with quaint European landscapes and historical cityscapes, the beauty of which a teenage boy shouldn't be expected to appreciate. Juliette Binoche was the guy's beautiful girlfriend or wife, who was always hurt by his womanizing but didn't divorce or break up with him (or did she in the end? I don't remember). I did not really understand the deep philosophy or message of the movie, if it had one.

Takes place in 1968. Something about a Czech man named Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis) who (somehow) has a VERY active sex life with numerous women. Then some revolution occurs...or something. Frankly I was so utterly bored I could have cared less.I caught this up a theatre with a friend in 1988 (she's female, I'm male). Neither one us read the book and had no idea what the movie was about. We just knew it had gotten raves from critics. Both of us are intelligent with college degrees and have no problem with a talky movie. Well this movie was virtually all talk. Sadly none of it was interesting! For starters it was badly cast. It was almost funny to see all these women eagerly undressing and jumping into bed with Tomas. Day-Lewis is (to be blunt) ugly here and gives a dull and lifeless performance. The women in his life are given next to no personality of depth. They're just there to be used. The story droned on and on and on and ON! My mind kept wandering while trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Towards the last hour or so I was fighting to stay awake. My friend agreed. We walked out of the movie tearing it to ribbons pointing out the lousy acting and incomprehensible story line. I tried watching it again recently and gave up after 45 minutes. Again--the acting sucked and the story went NOwhere! Skip this one. Even Day-Lewis didn't like it.