Cold War

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Pawel Pawlikowski returns to the black and white 4:3 aspect ratio that worked so well with 'Ida'. This is a stunning film. Joanna Kulig gives a brilliant performance as one half of a couple faced with decisions and adversity in post war communist Poland. Based loosely on the Director's own parents, it's a devastatingly captivating love story involving music, tragedy and politics. Spanning 15 years, the film uses music to evolve the story and the phenomenal set design / ambience of the film really captures the state of flux that Europe was in at the time. Lukasz Zal's cinematography will live long in the memory. I need a few days to digest this one but I can't see it being beaten on my best movies of 2018 list.

not gonna lie, I absolutely ugly cried a couple of times just watching Zula singing or dancing and I will never be ashamed of it

she's absolutely mesmerizing and although the whole movie is a masterpiece, Kulig is the one you will always be searching for on the screen. amazing.

This was easily one of my favorite films of 2018.  If I had to sum up the film in two words the phrase "minimalist epic" comes to mind.  I was blown away but the acting and the way that the director told the story.  How the story was wrapped up was really amazing and summed up the film quite nicely.

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This is a good love story and knowing it is based off the director's parents makes it better. It has some great performances, good music and looks beautiful. The editing and use of black screens was fantastic.

Film with a slightly disappointing beginning but that is growing around the dialogues of the characters that are really brutal. A great movie, sincere and unadorned

I will tell the truth: if I had not known that the story of the two main characters is taken (partly) by the story of Pawlikowski's parents (in fact the movie is dedicated to them), I would have been slightly disappointed. But knowing that, everything appears to me in a different light. It is clear from the outset that the director does a little construction of the characters: it is as if he knew them too well and had no interest in forcing descriptions and dialogues and in highlighting their personalities. This leads the viewer to witness a story of unconvincing love: platonic, but often fleeting; strong, but fragile. But there's simply no time to become attached to the two. And one can also see this in the film's duration of only 80 minutes. Passion is not an easy feeling to cultivate, and distance is a double-edged sword.
The strength of this movie is the tenderness of this love story: mystical, silky, ordered even if impossible. To lose oneself, to find oneself again, to lose oneself again and find oneself again: it's the circle of love.
The black and white technique contributes to weave the plot. One thing however needs to be noticed more than the B&W: the editing is just stunning. There are some black frames just perfectly included between two sequences, also with the sounds, giving the impression that the earliest sequence is not over yet, but it is. The moments of silence of this movie are among the best you can find in contemporary cinema.
Stalinist Poland is a background that adds mystery and difficulty, but comes out in the end in all its cruelty when the male protagonist (a pianist) is sentenced to fifteen years of forced labor that forever destroy his hands, forcing him to not play ever again (music is a strong part of the movie: Wiktor is a pianist and a composer, Zula is a wonderful singer and dancer, and they met the first time during an artistic audition).
In the end, their love is crowned, but in the only possible way: fleeing from the world and rising. The last seconds show a field crossed by the wind, a force of nature, nature that constantly fights against entropy, like the two characters.
7/10

There is just something about this movie. On one hand, it is slow, plodding and dark. On the other, there are moments of beauty, heart and an unfathomable passion. Basically, it is the intense love story of two people (reputedly the author's parents) that spans 15 years and transects Europe. From the very beginning the character Zusa emerges as the axis upon which Wiktor's world revolves. No matter where he goes to escape oppression he cannot escape Zula's hold over him. It is impossible to take your eyes off Joanna Kulig as she inhabits this character or to escape the spell she weaves. This is fine acting. The choice of a black and white palette suits the mood of the piece while the life of the music shattters those bounds. Not a movie for everyone but there was something about it that captured me. Nominated for multiple awards, including 3 Oscars in 2019, it has been well received by film critics and festivals. I give this film a 7 (good) out of 10. [Dramatic Love Story]

A tormented love story that blends the classic premise of the artist discovering a young talent with post-war political drama, filtering everything through music: from the rigor of Eastern folk singing to the early stirrings of Western rock 'n' roll, passing through slick jazz and the mandatory Internationale. Despite my recent aversion to the posh combo of 4:3 aspect ratio and black-and-white, the cinematography is astonishing, accentuating the cold detachment of the direction in underscoring the incompatibility of the two protagonists and the hostilities of their surroundings. Yet, at the same, I cannot help but feel a bitter aftertaste of romanticism after the credits roll. The ending felt a little random, though.