Cold War (2018)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Cold War (2018) – P. Pawlikowski

Pawel Pawlikowski’s doomed romantic drama looks gorgeous in black and white, with its perfect period recreation (1950s Poland and Paris) and melancholy jazz score.  Tomasz Kot plays Wiktor, the musical leader of a Polish folk music troupe, presenting peasant songs and dances (astonishingly performed) in a theatre setting across Eastern Europe.  Joanna Kulig plays Zula, a young girl with a somewhat dire past who pushes herself into the troupe and becomes one of its stars.  Soon, they have fallen in love (despite his other relationship) and their (moderate) age difference.  When the Stalinist regime begins to impose itself on the troupe’s repertoire, Wiktor plans an escape to the West (when on tour in Berlin) and Zula commits to join him...but does not.  Years go by but their love does not diminish and eventually they are reunited in Paris.  But happiness is not to be.  The film really captures a certain mood, a haunting feeling arising from obsessive love between two damaged people.  Pawlikowski keeps us on the outside, letting us view the characters’ actions but not always revealing their thoughts or motivations (although often we can infer them easily enough).  The plot moves forward rather elliptically, spanning from 1949 to 1964, and we are often surprised by the changes that time renders.  The dazzling cinematography (by Lukasz Zal) also contains a number of beautiful and surprising shots (e.g., we don’t realise that a couple is standing in front of a mirror rather than in the middle of a crowd until someone walks up to them). Indeed, the word “arthouse” fits the film like a glove, as it feels like a wonderful, sad, nostalgic, work of art.  It’s dedicated to the director’s parents whose own relationship apparently bears some similarities to the onscreen romance.  Highly recommended!