Film Reviews by DW

Recently watched the DVD of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Read the book about 2 years ago, but had forgotten a lot of the plot. The film brought it all back and I thought it was a faithful rendition.

Rather a lot of sex scenes but somehow there was an element of the ridiculous which left us laughing out loud. I was unaware how old the film was - mid 80s - but Juliette Binoche looks about 17 (which she wasn't) and D D Lewis about 30 (which he was).

There were lots of scenes relating to the 1968 soviet invasion which ended the Prague Spring, some of which looked like genuine news footage. Brought back a lot of memories of that time.

A special source of joy was the music. For me so many recent films seem to be ruined by intrusive music, but in this one the music was sparse and all, or almost all pieces from Janacek’s piano pieces On an Overgrown Path and his two string quartets which were perfect choices, I thought.

Highly recommended.

While being a serious and heart-rending study of the effects of being sexually abused by your father this series manages to have a number of lighthearted and funny moments. A tour de force by Cumberbatch and very convincing performance by the boy playing the young Patrick.