DVD/Blu-ray Mini-Review - Cold War (15)

Now I am yours. For ever and ever.

The Gist: Love sucks - but at least in Cold War is does so with beauty and style. Wiktor is a musical director helping scout talent in rural Poland in the years following the Second World War. The goal is to create a people's song and dance troupe that shows off the richness of the country's folk music (an enterprise that ends up as a propaganda tool for the ruling Soviet authorities). During the audition process he falls for Zula, a precocious young woman with a purportedly dark past. The affair that ensues must be kept secret, though it could be celebrated openly if the pair defected. The question is whether both are equally committed to running - and whether the relationship could endure in the decadent West, away from the climate that nurtured its furtive beginnings.

The Juice: Captured in aspect ratio and crisp black and white, Pawel Pawlikowski's sweeping romantic drama rivals Roma as one of 2018's most strikingly gorgeous films. The initial snowbound Polish scenes are static and austere, with the movie bursting into frantic life during the music-troupe sequences and then turning slinky and sinuous as the story progresses to the smoky jazz clubs of Paris. Tomasz Kot and Joanna Kulig make for a tremendously sexy pair as Wiktor and Zula, their passion as hot as the Eastern bloc winter is freezing. Then things turn ironically angsty and obstacle-strewn when they embrace the freedoms of the West, in scenes reminiscent of a French new wave classic. Their story covers two decades in a mere hour and a half, leaping years at a time and letting the viewer piece together the intervening events. While rich in historical detail, this film is all about the impossible anguished love of two people who just can't fit, even when life allows them the freedom to do so.

The Judgement: 8.5/10. Based on the pristine cinematography and smouldering performances alone, this is a 10. I was frustrated by the choppy narrative, however, wanting to understand more about the dynamics of Wiktor and Joanna's relationship, but never getting to spend sufficient time with them in any one place. It's testament to how intoxicating these characters are, however, (to say nothing of how magnificently Europe's past is recreated) that I wanted much more of their company. Maybe that was the point.