Cold War Hot Take

Cold War (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2018) is a Polish drama that follows two characters. Young woman Zula (Joanna Kulig) is an orphan seeking refuge after the events of World War 2. She finds shelter in a home ran by two music tutors, one being pianist Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) with whom they promptly fall in love together. Throughout the course of the movie these characters are pulled apart and then brought back together throughout the Cold War, and puts focus on the strains on their relationship, their emotions, and how they adapt to the new changes in their surroundings and culture of the times.

The story is told by following the characters individually for long periods of time, showing how they live alone and how they have changed since the start of the film. The director also brings the viewers attention towards the background a lot, by having the characters in frame usually far away from the camera or taking up a small space in frame. This shows how the culture of the times are changing, when you see fashion change, peoples behaviour, I.e kissing in public, and music change to match the time period. When the characters meet up, there is a lot more dialogue, and often they are placed closer to the camera, to display their emotions, and symbolise how close they are in that moment, physically and emotionally.

The narrative is structured in a way that shows how much time is passing and how the protagonists deal with the situation they are in. You see every seen or so, usually once the characters go their separate ways again, that another few years have passed. This conveys how much the people in love actually get to see each other, and how this effects them. Hence explaining why they act the way they do in certain scenes, and also how time has passed in between these scenes that we see. We see the characters by themselves, then together, then apart again after a few years.

I personally reacted to the film in a positive way. I appreciated the way that the director subtly incorporated hints as to how the characters are feeling and how the test of time has influenced them both. It is a compelling Ballard of how war and political conflict, borders and prejudice effect the ordinary people on the ground, and how love is changed by it. I think that the directors wanted to say how the delicious made by the people at the top effect those who have no say in them. And how love will persist over time, but the people are changed, for better or for worse, by the test of time.

I rate The Cold War ★★★★!