Cold War (2018) (Polish & Other Languages)

Review

88min

Genre:       Drama, Music, Romance

Director:    Pawel Pawlikowski

Cast:         Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc…and more

Writers:     Pawel Pawlikowski, Janusz Glowacki and Piotr Borkowski

-Synopsis-

In the gloom of post-war Poland, a musician and conductor forms a renowned performance academy made up of traditional young rural folk talents, only to fall for his star performer and begin a cross-Europe, Iron Curtain-defying romance, whilst both make sacrifices for a love which was never meant to be.

Armed with personal experience of Poland’s post World War II, Soviet bloc 20th century of hardship, and having so memorably explored its emotional legacy in his Oscar winner ‘Ida’, writer/director Pawel Pawlikowski returns to the era in vivid monochromatic style—setting a melancholy but intoxicating and melodic backdrop for an effortlessly cool, restrained but vibrant romance, and a classic love story of its age . . . yet utterly timeless.

Joanna Kulig stars as the beautiful young opportunist and spirited country girl with a past ‘Zula’, recruited as a singer and dancer in a young Polish folk performance troupe bankrolled by entrepreneur ‘Kaczmarek’ (Borys Szyc), and led by conductor-composer ‘Wiktor’ (Tomasz Kot), with whom she begins a music fuelled, continent-spanning whirlwind romance which seems doomed to failure—calling for sacrifices borne out of passion, but beyond reason.

If you’re looking for sprawling sentimental period drama and melodramatic romance, we’re happy to report that ‘Cold War’ will disappoint. As Pawlikowski fans might expect, the director mercifully avoids the unnecessarily saccharine and sidesteps lazy clichés, yet doesn’t sacrifice passion and the intoxicating aroma of love, while handling any traditional tropes with sophistication and subtlety—and most importantly honesty.

Pawlikowski dedicates the film to his parents and uses their own troubled but passionate relationship as a narrative lynchpin—a romance forged behind the Iron Curtain but splintered beyond it—in a cinematic story which bridges the late 40s to the early 60s, spanning from the fields of rural Poland to the concert halls of East Germany, the picturesque coast of Yugoslavia to the bustling streets of Paris. ‘Cold War’ is no doubt hugely influenced by classic cinema, but also by classic literature, even taking a leaf out of ‘The Bard’s’ book of forbidden romances.

Not only is the film set in the flux of mid 20th century Europe, but every frame feels like it’s from another time and place, yet subtly complemented by modern style and technique. But ‘Cold War’ is much more than a throwback, or an homage to the suave and aloofness of ‘Golden Age’ Hollywood drama and pseudo-noir, or indeed just a tribute to the European ‘Neorealism’ and ‘New Wave’—instead proving intoxicating and genuine enough to be plucked right out of their ranks.

As the title might suggest, ‘Cold War’ is also a socio-political affair to some extent, but only as much as it absolutely needs to be, choosing to use the experiences of life as a mandatory ‘comrade’ behind the Iron Curtain as the backdrop for the drama, and to further colour the characters.

Those characters are vividly brought to life with nuance and subtlety through the beguiling performances of the films two stars, and the undeniable but understated chemistry between them. Tomasz Kot shines as a stoic and empty soul, left with only one link to his homeland, while Joanna Kulig proves a revelation as the conflicted young artist yearning for an idea of home and belonging—in a performance anchored with an earthiness, but with all the mystique and allure of a classic Hollywood screen siren.

Visually, the attention to detail in depicting the era in which the film is set is second-to-none, using a modest budget to re-create it in style, taking advantage of a traditional academy ratio and shot in perfectly fitting black & white to smooth things out and add authenticity, all vividly captured by cinematographer Lukasz Zal (Ida, Loving Vincent). But there’s one more element which gives ‘Cold War’ the style and vitality to take this suave period romance to another level—the music.

Not only do the melodies add an untold amount of atmosphere and gravitas to the story, but they play a key role in the narrative as well, beginning with the Polish rural folk music and dance which kicks off the story—loosely based on the popular Polish folk dance group of the time the ‘Mazowsze Folk Group of Song and Dance’—with performances ranging from wistful and melancholy to joyful, encapsulating the earnest voice of the people who endured hardship with stoicism. As the film moves along, the music progresses from classical to groovy West Coast jazz in bustling 1950s Paris, through to early Rock n’ Roll and all the way to the Latin explosion of the 60s.

When all these elements are added up, you have a perfect example of what indie cinema and particularly foreign language film has to offer over most mainstream fare, and we would be mightily surprised if Pawlikowski doesn’t have another strong Oscar-contender in his hands come next February.

The Bottom Line…

Bygone yet timeless, moody, melodic, reverential and effortlessly cool, ‘Cold War’ is romantic period drama at its subtle best. Pawel Pawlikowski weaves an intoxicating and passionate love odyssey without a shred of cheap sentimentality, built on a meticulously crafted period backdrop and energised by a hypnotic musical soundscape—resulting in an instant modern classic . . . which belongs in another era.

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Frantz (2016) (French & German Language)

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Directed by François Ozon and starring Pierre Niney, Paula Beer and Anton von Lucke among others.

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