It was directed by Philip Kaufman, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jean-Claude Carrière, and stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin.

The film portrays Czechoslovak artistic and intellectual life during the Prague Spring, and the effect on the main characters of the communist repression that resulted from the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Tomas, a successful brain surgeon in communist Czechoslovakia, is pursuing an affair with equally carefree Sabina, an artist in Prague.

Amid the confusion, Tereza photographs demonstrations against the Soviet forces, then hands the rolls of film to foreigners to smuggle to the West.

Tomas attempts to resume his practice, but a scathing article he wrote before the invasion, criticizing the Soviet-backed Czechoslovak régime, has rendered him a political dissident.

It was filmed in France; in the scenes depicting the Soviet invasion, archival footage is combined with new material shot in Lyon.

The scene in which Tomas has sex with a woman while cleaning windows was shot in the then unrestored Hôtel de Beauvais in the 4th arrondissement of Paris (now the Administrative Appeal Court).

The website's consensus reads, "Exploring sexual mores against the backdrop of real-life social upheaval, The Unbearable Lightness of Being artfully blends the political and the erotic.

"[4] The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Jean-Claude Carrière and Philip Kaufman for Best Adapted Screenplay[5] and Sven Nykvist for Best Cinematography.

The release includes audio commentary by director Philip Kaufman, co-writer Jean-Claude Carrière, editor Walter Murch, and actress Lena Olin.

The film makes extensive use of classical pieces by Czech composer Leoš Janáček, especially his "On an Overgrown Path" piano compositions.