Central Europe, 1968: A Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.Central Europe, 1968: A Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.Central Europe, 1968: A Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 7 wins & 14 nominations total
Pavel Landovský
- Pavel
- (as Pavel Landovsky)
Stellan Skarsgård
- The Engineer
- (as Stellan Skarsgard)
Tomasz Borkowy
- Jiri
- (as Tomek Bork)
Pavel Slabý
- Pavel's Nephew
- (as Pavel Slaby)
László Szabó
- Russian Interrogator
- (as Laszlo Szabo)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first cut shown to the studio was under two hours in length and the story was confusing. Philip Kaufman was asked to add in scenes he cut. The next day they were shown the theatrically released version. It's believed Kaufman showed them a shorter and confusing version in order to get his almost three-hour final cut approved with no questions of cutting it.
- GoofsMephisto the Pig, consistently referred to as "he", is a sow, as can be seen frequently, but particularly when the group enters the inn for dancing.
Featured review
A film seemingly anticipating the vevlvet revolutions of 1989
In 1988 praised as an erotic movie. In 2018 we can only see Tomas as a sex addict a la "Shame" (2011, Steve McQueen).
Noteworthy just the same is the fact that in the late '60s there were youth protests irrespective of the political system (North America: flower power and Woodstock. Western Europe: Student protests in Paris. Eastern Europe: spring of Prague.).
With respect to coping with a dictatorship the films shows three fundamentally different strategies. Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis) is trying to fight back, Sabina (Lena Olin) flights while Tereza (Juliette Binoche) adapts.
The film was made just before the velvet revolutions of 1989. More than twenty five years later I was reading the book "Dancing bears" (2014, Witbold Szablowski). This book describes that not everybody knows how to cope with the freedom that was conquered. Some people feel more comfortable when they are told what to do and how to behave. Somehow I had to think about Tereza when reading this book.
Noteworthy just the same is the fact that in the late '60s there were youth protests irrespective of the political system (North America: flower power and Woodstock. Western Europe: Student protests in Paris. Eastern Europe: spring of Prague.).
With respect to coping with a dictatorship the films shows three fundamentally different strategies. Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis) is trying to fight back, Sabina (Lena Olin) flights while Tereza (Juliette Binoche) adapts.
The film was made just before the velvet revolutions of 1989. More than twenty five years later I was reading the book "Dancing bears" (2014, Witbold Szablowski). This book describes that not everybody knows how to cope with the freedom that was conquered. Some people feel more comfortable when they are told what to do and how to behave. Somehow I had to think about Tereza when reading this book.
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- frankde-jong
- Aug 24, 2019
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Die unerträgliche Leichtigkeit des Seins
- Filming locations
- Prague, Czech Republic(archive footage)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $17,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $10,006,806
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $202,189
- Feb 7, 1988
- Gross worldwide
- $10,006,806
- Runtime2 hours 51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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