Global 1968 Series
“The Unbearable Lightness of Being”
Sponsored by the Center for Russian and East European Studies
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (171 min) is a 1988 American film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Milan Kundera, published in 1984. Director Philip Kaufman and screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière portray the effect on Czechoslovak artistic and intellectual life during the 1968 Prague Spring of socialist liberalization preceding the invasion by the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact that ushered in a period of communist repression. It portrays the moral, political and psycho-sexual consequences for three bohemian friends: a surgeon, and two female artists with whom he has a relationship.
Professor Martin Votruba, Head of the Slovak Studies Program at Pitt, will introduce the film.
Location and Address
4130 Posvar Hall