55 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: 55 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

#26 Post by knives » Sun Feb 08, 2009 5:56 pm

Just saw this and thought it was good, not great. A good ten minutes could have easily been cut. (Why did he need to show the accident?) I also thought the camera work was a tad schizo. It was a very enjoyable experience though mostly because of Binoche. She gave a performance unlike what I've seen from her elsewhere. It felt very naked and true. Just for her effort, and others, this movie is so much higher. Her performance gave a nice emotional core where Day-Lewis I don't think was ready for. (today he could play that part far better) Finally I'm curious why Kaufman dropped the title cards so quickly. I thought they were marvelous and brought a literary felling to the proceedings.

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carax09
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Re: 55 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

#27 Post by carax09 » Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:40 pm

I'm going to have to re-visit this film. I don't remember anything remotely approaching schizo camerawork. Are you referring to the invasion sequence? I think they cut some grainy newsreel-style second unit stuff in there, right? Also, the version I remember, doesn't show the accident---just a pov through the windshield as they're driving that gradually fades to white.

Binoche is so damn appealing in this film. She just has this radiant goodness about her that reminds me of Janet Gaynor. And when her and Day-Lewis are going up to their room at the inn, with the music from the little accordion band still heard from the dining room, and she puts her feet on his to walk the last few steps before the threshold, the comfortable and joyful physicality on display makes me think of no less than Seventh Heaven.

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knives
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Re: 55 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

#28 Post by knives » Sun Feb 08, 2009 9:24 pm

What I meant by schizo camera work is that it felt like there were three different directors helming the three sections. I understand the reason for the documentary style during the invasion. I actually thought that was some of the best work in the film. I also understand why that wouldn't have worked elsewhere in the story. What stands out to me is that after the invasion the camera takes a much more standard position from how it was used before the invasion. there was a distinct difference for me.
You're right that it's just a POV, but I didn't feel it was needed. Olin's underused character had the right emotional finish. The two moments after that weren't needed I think. My favorite Day-Lewis/ Binoche moment has to be that first Prauge meeting. The way the bounce off each other had the tension of a thriller. Her face was just perfect for the role.

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carax09
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Re: 55 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

#29 Post by carax09 » Sun Feb 08, 2009 10:07 pm

That's really interesting. Seeing the film when I was younger, I hadn't noticed the different approaches to the style of the film in the first act vis-a-vis the third. Of course, it makes sense considering the film begins in Prague, and the invasion forces Tomas and Tereza to the countryside. For what it's worth, I agree that the film could've been trimmed a bit, but absolutely not the two moments after Olin gets the letter. This flip-flopping of the climax and the denouement is exactly the type of elegant handling by Kaufman that allows the film to stand on it's own, outside the sphere of the novel.

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colinr0380
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Re: 55 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

#30 Post by colinr0380 » Mon Feb 09, 2009 7:54 am

knives wrote:What I meant by schizo camera work is that it felt like there were three different directors helming the three sections. I understand the reason for the documentary style during the invasion. I actually thought that was some of the best work in the film. I also understand why that wouldn't have worked elsewhere in the story. What stands out to me is that after the invasion the camera takes a much more standard position from how it was used before the invasion. there was a distinct difference for me.
I felt that the camerawork was perfectly appropriate for the film in the sense that pre-Prague Spring there is joy and hope of a bright future ahead. After the invasion that hope is gone to be replaced by distrust and fear of other people, best shown in the change from the group of students lounging on the steps in front of Tomas's home in an early scene replaced with shifty looking figures when he returns to Prague to be with Tereza.

The camera is working to create the mood of the characters as much as the dialogue or the music. As well as the time pre-Prague Spring it is capturing the transience of libertinism for Tomas - initially things are going wonderfully and there is no reason for him to do anything like settle down. In a way the wider outside events are conspiring to push him into a loving relationship by removing Sabina and destroying the environment that he feels comfortable in, but giving him someone specific that he can share his life with in Tereza (Even the blackmail that causes Tereza to want to leave Prague for the countryside is a way of pushing them into their idyllic final stretch)

As people cannot easily confide in other people either sexually or even just conversationally for fear of this being used against them, this increases the need for someone specific to share thoughts and emotions with. As the world becomes darker and more dangerous, the relationship of Tomas and Tereza becomes even more important.

So the camera work emphasises that buttoned-down quality after the invasion - it seems to not feel as free to move but instead starts to present tableaus of characters. When Sabine played with the hat and the mirror in an early scene, she was presenting a image of herself to be viewed but in collaboration with Tomas as the viewer for their mutual pleasure. The same with the nurse in the changing room in the opening scene - OK Tomas is being extremely forward but she has the option to walk out or bare all to him, and that scene which begins seemingly like a doctor badgering a nurse in an unacceptable manner turns into quite an empowering scene as it shows the effect she has on Tomas (and the onlookers!) The way that the nurse is standing and shot from a low angle while Tomas is sprawled out on a chair also gives her a greater sense of power in that situation, and shows that they both get something from this brief encounter.

However after the invasion there is that sequence with the woman whose windows Tomas is cleaning who presents herself not as an equal but instead as a submissive woman suffering from back pain, while at the same time never leaving any doubt that Tomas is the hired help she feels like having a fling with. Sex has become politicised and become about more than just the act, but about wielding power and control. Tereza's attempts at a fling with a stranger to discover why Tomas is so addicted to outside encounters also turns into a situation not of mutual casual enjoyment but of blackmail.

However this was kind of the same in Paris too, in the scenes between Sabina and Franz. Paris is more about sex used for advancement of position rather than purely showing power. Franz is so smitten it is likely that he would have always wanted to be the submissive one in a relationship before Sabina ends things, unable to keep up the pretence.

Paris is not as dark as post-invasion Prague will be, but its beauty is presented as being rather cold and icy - sure you can take photographs, but it has to be for commerical purposes. You can't just shoot anything you feel like! The decadence without the warmth of the city (or the talking about the situation back home from a safe distance) seems to be the thing that drives the couple back to Prague, to face whatever is there head on and to let Tomas show Tereza that she does mean more to him than just a casual relationship.

So there's a sense of the innocence and abandon of youth turning into a more mature view of the world and your effects on those people in it. The photography plays an important part in putting across the perception of the world through the character's eyes, giving a sense of unease or warmth and so on.

On the other points, I like the opening title cards for the way they set the tone of the film to follow, but once the narrative is going and we are involved in the story between Tomas and Tereza (as I think we are fully by the end of the scenes at the spa town), then it would be too distracting to keep being jolted out of the film by title cards. It would also turn the film into episodes when that has really been what Tomas's life has been up until that point - episodic, fun encounters. To keep using the title cards would in some way diminish the importance of Tereza and the way she completely changes the structure of Tomas's entire life.

I also loved Lena Olin's performance as Sabina, but in a way I'm glad that she was not in it more. In the end Sabina is an extremely important character, but one peripheral to the main character's story, as everyone but Tomas and Tereza are by the end.

I thought that the structure of that final sequence was perfect in that it shows how important Tomas and Tereza were to Sabina, that they can still have such an impact on her years after she last saw them. To then cut back to Tomas and Tereza in the truck does not lessen the impact of Sabine's grief but instead does a number of things. It brings us back to the main characters for the end of the film; the sequence can also seem to play as Sabina's imagining of the couple's happy final day together; and the film brings the couple back to life for a brief moment - full of portent of this being the road they'll have their fatal crash on, but more importantly to show their comfort and happiness with each other before that event. That whatever was going to happen in their future, they would face it together.

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psufootball07
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Re: 55 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

#31 Post by psufootball07 » Wed May 20, 2009 6:13 pm

Could this film be getting re-released through Criterion or an upgrade in both SD and Bluray?

Does this Amazon account mean it is out of print?

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domino harvey
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Re: 55 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

#32 Post by domino harvey » Wed May 20, 2009 6:25 pm

Both the Criterion and the non-Criterion are OOP

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kaujot
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Re: 55 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

#33 Post by kaujot » Wed May 20, 2009 6:42 pm

I believe the (Warner? MGM?) edition is out of print as well, though there are plenty of copies floating around for under $20.

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MichaelB
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Re: 55 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

#34 Post by MichaelB » Fri May 22, 2009 9:59 am

knives wrote:What I meant by schizo camera work is that it felt like there were three different directors helming the three sections. I understand the reason for the documentary style during the invasion. I actually thought that was some of the best work in the film.
For the record, the invasion footage was shot in August 1968 by Jan Němec (of The Party and the Guests infamy), and was originally used in his documentary short Oratorio For Prague. Němec was a consultant on The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which for obvious reasons couldn't be filmed in Czechoslovakia.

Clearly, Philip Kaufman had little choice but to match Němec's approach in order to convincingly intercut Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche into this material - I'm guessing there wasn't a huge amount of raw footage to make use of.

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Malickite
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Re: 55 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

#35 Post by Malickite » Sat Apr 29, 2017 7:55 pm

Anyone know the status with this film? Is there anything that suggests it's getting a blu-ray some time soonish? Maybe even coming back in print on Criterion?

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