Harsh, yes, but I call 'em like I see 'em.I saw this in the late 80's, and it was truly one of the most awful, boring films I've ever forced myself to watch.Yes, the cinematography is lovely. The Czech settings are truly stunning. The political backdrop is enticing, but unlike similar "historically set" stories (e.g. _Dr. Zhivago_ (qv)), this one failed to make the politics relevant to the story, or even interesting.Sure, Olin and Binoche are beautiful. But this film manages to make even "erotic" scenes plodding and slow. I'm all for romance, but this movie was so boring, I started hoping the Russians would shoot them all and put an end to my misery.I'm sure if I'd read the book, the story would have made a bit more sense. However, life's too short to expend any more time on this one.