harsh and yes and but i call em like i see em . i saw this in the late 80 and and it be truly one of the most awful and boring film i have ever force myself to watch . yes and the cinematography be lovely . the czech setting be truly stunning . the political backdrop be entice and but unlike similar historically set story ( e. g. _dr . zhivago_ ( qv ) ) and this one fail to make the politics relevant to the story and or even interesting . sure and olin and binoche be beautiful . but this film manage to make even erotic scene plod and slow . i be all for romance and but this movie be so boring and i start hop the russian would shoot them all and put an end to my misery . i be sure if i would read the book and the story would have make a bit more sense . however and life too short to expend any more time on this one .