The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Introduced by Tracy Stephenson, assistant programmer and coordinator, MFAH Films
In translating Milan Kundera’s supposedly “unfilmable” novel to the big screen, Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff) achieves a delicate, erotic balance by focusing on three central characters. A womanizing surgeon (Daniel Day-Lewis) struggles with his free-spirited mistress (Lena Olin) and his childlike wife (Juliette Binoche) as they navigate the political and social upheavals of life in Europe in the late 1960s. The film encompasses such turbulent events as the Prague Spring and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and charts the frontiers of relationships with wit, emotion, and devastating honesty. —Tracy Stephenson
Tickets Available Soon
- $9 general admission; $7 MFAH members, students with ID, seniors (65+)
Plan Your Visit
- This screening takes place in Brown Auditorium Theater in the Law Building.
- Parking Information | Museum Hours | MFAH Campus Map
Restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation. Print courtesy of The Academy Film Archive.
Underwriting for the Film Department is provided by Tenaris and American Friends of Fundacion Proa Inc., The June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation, and the Vaughn Foundation.
Generous funding is provided by The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea; Foundation for Independent Media Arts; Nina and Michael Zilkha; Lois Chiles; Franci Neely; Carrin Patman and Jim Derrick; Ms. Laurence Unger; and ILEX Foundation.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Directed by Philip Kaufman
(USA, 1988, 171 minutes, in English)
Brown Auditorium Theater, digital