I can't tell you how many movies I've seen in which the principal characters wind up in bed together at the drop of a hat after just meeting each other. Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis) by far had the most direct and uniquely creative approach - he asked women he was interested in to take off their clothes. And they did! Just like that. It's not a technique I've ever tried but I have my doubts that it's as simple as that. Maybe for Harvey Weinstein but look where it got him.

The 'lightness' of the title was referenced a number of times in the picture and it referred to the way Tomas approached life and relationships with the opposite sex. To him, there was a 'lightness' that permeated his actions and thinking, never carrying things out to their ultimate conclusion. Whereas Tereza (Juliette Binoche) represented just the opposite, one might say the 'heavy' approach to dealing with potential romantic partners. That is, it had to mean something, and her recognition of Tomas's infidelity caused her much psychic harm - "But how can someone love without being in love?" This may be the age old question in the male/female dynamic, explored in this film as the married couple attempt to reconcile their relationship while in the midst of a corresponding affair with Tomas's worldly mistress Sabina (Lena Olin).

Set against the backdrop of the Prague Spring of 1968, the political element didn't seem to be entirely necessary in the telling of the relationship story. However it did provide a measure of conflict for Tomas who was called upon to retract an earlier published piece taking the Soviet Communist regime to task for the way it dehumanized people and placed them under the thumb of an overreaching government.

Notwithstanding the title of the picture, the film's resolution is anything but light in the sense that it spelled doom for the principal characters. It's perhaps the story's dramatic irony that Tomas and Tereza finally found their true happiness outside the confines of the city where they could be as free as possible to pursue life on their own terms, if only for a short while.

It's 1968 Prague. Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a womanizing doctor. His often-lover Sabina (Lena Olin) is a liberated sophisticated woman. At a country spa, Tomas is taken with local girl Tereza (Juliette Binoche). He sets free the mousy Tereza and they have a passionate affair along with Sabina. Tomas and Tereza get married but jealousy overwhelms her. Then the Prague Spring erupts.

There has been many threesomes in cinematic history. The acting power in these three is one of best. Daniel is able to make the charismatic cad likable. Lena is sexual dynamite. Juliette is pure magic in this one. It is a great threesome against the backdrop of compelling political turmoil.

It was hard to keep aesthetic distance after reading so much review material before seeing this. I have to agree with those that criticize the length. There is a sense of rambling and lack of meeting of forces that turned me off a little. I thought a little tweaking of this would have made the film get to its point. Nevertheless, I didn't say it isn't a decent film. While I find self-indulgent types like these hard to take, they certainly light up the screen. Here are some of the best actors of our time. There is also a political threat that is nicely intertwined among the rest of the love story. I felt sorrow for the young woman who just wanted to be cared for. She is dealt a nasty hand. But if you know it's a snake, be ready to be bitten, as the old fable tells us. The strongest part of this is the cinematography. Cameras within cameras, sharp, insightful scenes put before us, subtle facial expressions, all this. I've never read the book, but I feel I may need to do so. Perhaps with a more insightful character development only a novel can give, I would enjoy the people more.