The Incredible Lightness of Being is the next Williams Lake Film Club feature coming up Friday, Nov. 25 at the Gibraltar Room.
Released in 1988 and directed by Philip Kaufman based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Czech writer Milan Kundera, the film became an underground hit and an immediate classic.
The main actors are Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin.
Although an American film it was filmed in Prague which at the time was still in Czechoslovakia.
It is described as a drama/romance, runs for 171 min. and is rated R for sexual content. Prague surgeon and avowed womanizer Tomas (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) is focused on the happiness of pursuit.
He is determined to live with a lightness of being unfettered by things like commitment and Communism. He has found a kindred soul in Sabina who shares his free thinking and lightness of being. It all goes well until Tomas meets Tereza, a young country girl with the most beautiful large innocent eyes and irresistible lips. Tomas is struck with a feeling, which just might turn into real love.
1968 was a traumatic year for Prague. The Russians were occupying Czechoslovakia and a revolt started up in Prague.
1968 was called the Prague Spring until the Soviet tanks crushed the non-violent rebels. Their illusions were shattered and their lives changed forever.
The sequence depicting the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia incorporates real documentary footage of the era shot by students of Prague Film School with new scenes recreated for the movie.
Several Czechs were in consideration to be involved in this film, including director Milos Forman, however, very few ultimately ended up working on the film. Allegedly, protecting relatives still living in Czechoslovakia from reprisals from the Communist regime was a primary reason. After all, this was the time of the Cold War.
North America has not been comfortable with the complications of adult sexuality –—the good and the bad.
What is so remarkable about The Unbelievable Lightness of Being, however, is not the sexual content itself, but the way Kaufman has been able to use it as an avenue for a complex story, one of nostalgia, loss, idealism — and romance.
The Unbelievable Lightness of Being will be shown at the Gibraltar Room, Friday, Nov. 25 starting at 7 p.m. Back doors open at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $10 regular, $8 for Williams Lake Film Club members and $6 for seniors (65+) and students, High School and TRU. Memberships are $10.