If When Harry Met Sally had a somber counterpart, that movie would be Cold War, the latest from My Summer of Love director Pawel Pawlikowski. The film was selected as Poland’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, and as of this review, is on the shortlist (with nominees having yet to be announced). The film isn’t always exactly what you would call happy or uplifting, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. One of the most beautifully-shot, well-acted, touching films of 2018, Cold War is a real treat to watch.
The film tells the story of Wiktor, a music composer who discovers a young talented girl named Zula, and almost immediately falls in love with her, which he notes is due to her energy and sprit, calling her “original.” The two seem like a mismatched pair from the start, but over the years, continuously run into each other in a series of breakups and makeups set against the backdrop of the Cold War in a politically-charged Poland.
The film feels like a series of vignettes as the two doomed lovers meet over the course of so many years. As the setting changes - with time-jumps denoted by blackouts - each part of the film feels like a new chapter in a book. Wiktor and Zula meet once again in a brand new place and hopefully get a fresh new start, only for circumstance to drive them apart or complicate things once again. It’s a vicious cycle that’s constantly heartbreaking, yet never feels repetitive or mundane. We become so invested in both of these individuals that we repeatedly hold out hope for the both of them each time the universe brings the two of them together.
Wiktor and Zula seem like your typical “star-crossed lovers,” thanks to their wildly different backgrounds. Wiktor is a music composer whose part of larger music group with a political agenda, while Zula is a woman with a mysterious past with an energy and set of goals that wildly differ from Wiktor’s. Two people from two different backgrounds is a setup we’ve seen in countless romantic dramas and romantic comedies, so at first, this whole setup seems sort of predictable. However, the execution is anything but.
If there’s one thing I have to give this movie credit for, is just how well it handles both its main characters. It never once goes for a heavy-handed approach in terms of getting across how the two are such polar opposites. Subtlety is a key part of why this works so well. There are big revealing moments, but the film never feels like it stops what it’s doing and hones in on this one aspect, such as when Wiktor questions Zula about her mysterious past. The film gets its point across and keeps things going. In a way, it’s a reflection of real life. Big moments in our own lives are rarely filled with these large dramatic exchanges and speeches that we see in many mainstream films, and Cold War almost never lets itself go down such a cliched path. At a runtime of just 85 minutes, Pawlikowski keeps the pace moving quickly and makes every minute count.
You’re also invested in these two people due to the fantastic performances by the main leads. Winter is played by Tomasz Kot, an actor who has appeared in a decent amount of Polish films though all relatively low-key up, with Cold War being his biggest film to date. His acting skills are impressive though, as Wiktor is a passionate, yet sad and almost isolated sort of individual, and Kot captures that essence perfectly, easily gaining our sympathies without ever coming across as manipulative. The real breakout performance though comes from Joanna Kulig as Zula. Pawlikowski said he and Kulig wrote the Zula character with actress Lauren Bacall in mind, and it’s clear Kulig channels a lot of Bacall’s energy. She has a high energy about her, and it’s one that never takes you out of the overall feel of the movie. She has a dry, sarcastic delivery like Bacall, almost causally delivering key lines in the film yet still getting her point across so clearly. Kulig and Kot have a unique sort of chemistry together, taking two people with two clearly different energies and somehow making them sync together so expertly.
This is a movie that works so well because everything feels so natural. Even most of the movie’s soundtrack is composed of folk arrangements and jazz numbers that are heard within the film. Some of these moments end up being some of the livelier moments in the film and blend almost seamlessly in. What makes the music work so well is how big of a part it plays into the plot. The folk musical collective that’s featured so heavily in the film was in part based on the real folk ensemble Mazowsze, and Pawlikowski used this group and their lyrics to help illustrate what was going on in Poland at the time and how much the political climate was affecting our two main characters’ relationship. Pawlikowski manages to give us a beautiful soundtrack while still managing to convey so much else that’s occurring within the story, and that is the work of true talent.
The film is gorgeously shot, with the black-and-white being an excellent touch to help set the dreary, almost downer tone of the entire movie. There’s an overall feeling of despair and at times, a sense of loneliness and isolation that carries through the entire film, and the way in which this is shot really drives that feeling for the most part. One particular sequence that stands out is a scene in which Wiktor and another character are at a social function, speaking to one another, and at first you think they are in the middle of the crowd. Once you begin to catch on to some of the movement going on behind them, you realize they are actually standing up against a wall with a mirror, totally separated from the rest of the crowd. This scene is particularly noteworthy only because if there’s one scene that perfectly captures the feel of the entire movie, it’s this. The actual Cold War was a bleak, dismal time, and Pawlikowski masterfully recreates that sense, with plenty of expertly crafted shots that support an engaging story.
If there’s one other film I think of when I think of Cold War, it’s Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma. While the two tell vastly different stories, the two share a lot of similarities. Both were released in 2018, shot in black-and-white, and tell deeply sad stories based on personal tales. Cuaron based Roma off his own upbringing, while Pawlikowski based Cold War off his parents (the film is even dedicated to them). Both movies were widely praised, but while Roma gained a lot more traction thanks to its premiere being on Netflix, I feel Cold War is by far the superior of the two and is one that is going to go unfairly under the radar by audiences. It may not be a feel-good movie, and not for everyone who may be looking for a more joyful time at the movies. But it tells a great story, and moves at a nice, brisk pace, ending before you almost even realize it. Filled with gorgeous cinematography and wonderfully written characters, Cold War is a fantastic piece of cinema.
Comments