After Ida (2015) this is another brilliant film by Pawel Pawlikowski apparently inspired by the story of Pawlikowski’s own parents. Cold War succeeds by beautifully interweaving the personal, political and musical with memorable cinematography in black and white by Lukasz Zal and an unforgettable performance by Joana Kulig as Zula.
Poland 1948. Wiktor (Tomasz Klot) is a musician helping to set up a folk music group in post-World War 2 Poland, where the Communist Party is using patriotic feelings to make its Soviet dominated internationalist ideology palatable nationally and internationally. Zula (Joana Kulig) escapes a prison sentence for using violence to defend herself against an abusive father by joining the newly formed folk music group the Mazurki (named after the Polish Mazurka folk dance). Wiktor and Zula fall in love and begin a deeply passionate, sensuous and poisonous relationship, where strong feelings of love alternate with feelings of contempt, while over many years they jointly and severally physically cross from East to West and back again. The political developments in Poland and Eastern Europe, represented by the political commissar and director of the folk group Kaczmarek (Borys Szyc) and the relationship political climate between East and West, represented by Paris, form an unusual, vivid and interesting context for Wiktor and Zula’s turbulent personal story of “je t’aime, moi non plus”.
Pawel Pawlikowski succeeds by beautifully interweaving the personal, political and musical with memorable cinematography in black and white by Lukasz Zal. The influence of the Lodz film school is evident. The strength of the story is underlined with a beautifully judged understated performance by Tomasz Klot as Wiktor and an unforgettable performance by Joana Kulig as Zula. Seeing an evolving communist Poland from inside and the experience of being a Polish musician in exile in the Paris of 1950 are insightful and unusual perspectives for audiences in the West.
After Ida (2015) this is another brilliant film by Pawel Pawlikowski apparently inspired by the story of Pawlikowski’s own parents. It’s a story that now belongs to the history of Europe of which Poland is now an integral part, something we in Western Europe have not yet internalised as we should have. On the latest count Pawlikowski, who grew up in Poland, the UK and Germany, has received over 60 nominations and 22 awards for Cold War, all of which are richly deserved. Highly recommended; do not miss it.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6543652/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt
Poland 1948. Wiktor (Tomasz Klot) is a musician helping to set up a folk music group in post-World War 2 Poland, where the Communist Party is using patriotic feelings to make its Soviet dominated internationalist ideology palatable nationally and internationally. Zula (Joana Kulig) escapes a prison sentence for using violence to defend herself against an abusive father by joining the newly formed folk music group the Mazurki (named after the Polish Mazurka folk dance). Wiktor and Zula fall in love and begin a deeply passionate, sensuous and poisonous relationship, where strong feelings of love alternate with feelings of contempt, while over many years they jointly and severally physically cross from East to West and back again. The political developments in Poland and Eastern Europe, represented by the political commissar and director of the folk group Kaczmarek (Borys Szyc) and the relationship political climate between East and West, represented by Paris, form an unusual, vivid and interesting context for Wiktor and Zula’s turbulent personal story of “je t’aime, moi non plus”.
Pawel Pawlikowski succeeds by beautifully interweaving the personal, political and musical with memorable cinematography in black and white by Lukasz Zal. The influence of the Lodz film school is evident. The strength of the story is underlined with a beautifully judged understated performance by Tomasz Klot as Wiktor and an unforgettable performance by Joana Kulig as Zula. Seeing an evolving communist Poland from inside and the experience of being a Polish musician in exile in the Paris of 1950 are insightful and unusual perspectives for audiences in the West.
After Ida (2015) this is another brilliant film by Pawel Pawlikowski apparently inspired by the story of Pawlikowski’s own parents. It’s a story that now belongs to the history of Europe of which Poland is now an integral part, something we in Western Europe have not yet internalised as we should have. On the latest count Pawlikowski, who grew up in Poland, the UK and Germany, has received over 60 nominations and 22 awards for Cold War, all of which are richly deserved. Highly recommended; do not miss it.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6543652/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt
No comments:
Post a Comment