STARRING Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin, Derek de Lint\r\nDIRECTOR Philip Kaufman\r\nRATED M\r\nOUT Now\r\nRent/Buy\r\n\r\n“I’ve read books like The Unbearable Lightness Of Being,” muses John Cusack’s character in High Fidelity. “They’re about girls, right?” He’s joking, of course, but after watching Philip Kaufman’s laboured, straightforward adaptation of Milan Kundera’s philosophical novel – that’s three hours laboured, including a change of disc mid-movie – you’d be forgiven for believing the Cosby-sweatered audiophile. Kundera’s prose was lyrical and dream-like; by contrast, the film’s narrative extracts and pursues the sexaholic central love story, only partially capturing the book’s existential currents.\r\n\r\nOn that level, though, Kaufman’s film is a picturesque work. As he would prove later in Henry & June and Quills, the director crafts sexual imagery as an essential element to the story, giving Lightness the distinct feel of a European art film.\r\n\r\nAs Tomas, the womanising surgeon who flees Prague in the wake of the 1968 Russian invasion, Daniel Day-Lewis is well cast; his expression is just inscrutable enough to create the character’s enigma. Juliette Binoche’s performance is rather faint, but Lena Olin – with her unforgettable bowler hat – delivers edge and emotion to the notion of sex as an act of defiance against political oppression.\r\n\r\nLightness is beautifully photographed, enhancing the striking locations and eye-pleasing actors. Of particular note is the Prague riot sequence, in which peerless editor Walter Murch splices scenes of the actors into archival footage from the event, creating a heightened sense of place and danger that is sometimes missing in other parts of the drama. \r\n\r\nThe film eventually makes its point, as we witness the subtle change wrought on Tomas by his involvement in the political situation. But this is still bed-hopping clawing for a deeper meaning. Love, the filmmakers repeat ad nauseum, is the only act of freedom in times of trouble. \r\n\r\nSo it is about girls, after all...\r\n\r\nDVD Extras Interesting if anecdotal feature length commentary with Kaufman, Murch, screenwriter Jean-Claude and actress Lena Olin, plus a retrospective making-of that revisits the controversy of shooting the film during the Cold War era.\r\n\r\nLUKE GOODSELL