I read the book (yes, a masterpiece), saw the film when it first came out, & I own several versions of it. The movie stands firmly on its own: stunningly photographed, inspired & masterful direction, a haunting score(Janacek's exquisite music as narrator), brilliant performances by everyone, including minor actors, & heart-wrenching, inter-cut footage of the actual invasion in 1968 of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union & most of its Warsaw Pact allies. In counterpoint to this horror, there are haunting & shimmering images of Tereza looking at Tomas after she knows he has been with another woman ("Must it be? It must be."), Tomas & Sabina twirling in each other's arms reunited in Geneva, Tomas wading into water with swans in twilight, & the touchingly expressive face of a dog who teaches Tereza what love is. This film tries to explore "the law of eternal returns" here on "the planet of inexperience" using as examples Sabina's hat to represent the comfort of the old ways, before Communism, Tomas' infidelity as a character flaw but also as a coping mechanism to compensate for his loss of free will, & the existential choices each character must make. All three main characters embark on their journeys & the ending invites us to decide which journey was most (eternally) rewarding. This film is forever etched in my "poetic memory." (all quotes - Milan Kundera)
Reviews
2 Reviews
'Til There Was You
(1997)
Wassup w/you Jaded Viewers???
4 September 2000
I thought this was a tightly-written, well-directed, superbly-acted film. It moved me to tears. Rang true & clear. Happy ending & all, it depicted the angst & turmoil of the shallow relationships this culture encourages.... the characters did the work & found their true mates as a result. Too slow for American hyper/commercial attention spans, for sure. More like a European film in that regard. Brave & moving. Glad I saw it.
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