the first look at cold war (2018)
In the 2018 movie Cold War, Zula the rising singer meets Wiktor in an audition for a folk music ensemble he is directing. Set on post-world War II Poland, the two protagonists meet and fell into a peculiar relationship whilst touring with the ensemble. Or at least that was what I caught on the first time I watched the movie, since I can only see and hear, but not understand what they are saying.
But the brilliance of Pawel Pawlikowski is that he has mastered the methods of storytelling through the media provided in film format, that the dialogue doesn’t hold most of the story hostage. If anything, I would say that most of the story is being told by the gestures and the spaces of the movie. So, without further ado, here is what I thought happened in the movie Cold War.
It was pretty clear from the start that the story is set on a war-torn country, the melancholic atmosphere made even more apparent with the slightly off-tune singing and the consistent snowfall. The black and white format of the movie really brings out the stark whiteness of snow that gives an eerie brightness to the scenes happening. There are lots of things I didn’t understand, the singing, the village, the broken and abandoned church. I didn’t understand what the story would be about, just judging from the opening scenes. But I guess that’s what made it such a good opening scene; it establishes the set, both the physical location of the movie and the emotion for this movie.
When I first saw Zula, of course, I didn’t know her name. I knew that she is desperate, though. On the hall before the audition she convinced a girl to go in with her, performing a duet rather than a solo. To me, she looks so desperate to land this part. After her audition performance, Wiktor and his co-producer watch Zula dances happily and freely outside of the building. The interesting part is when the scene cuts to Zula dancing a choreographed dance in a dance hall, showing the contrast of Zula’s moves. Showing contrasts is one of the strengths of this movie.
Afterward, we see Zula and Wiktor interact a lot. Their interaction has a very palpable tension between them, to which I suspect that they are going to have a romantic relationship. Their relationship, in my opinion, is not a romantic one, though. Their dynamics are borderline obsessive and the intensity of their dynamic doesn’t really die down. Their obsessiveness really imprints itself on my mind, I feel like all their interaction has a tad of obsessiveness to it. Especially when Zula jumps into the water after Wiktor walks away from her. To me, it shows how Zula is obsessed with Wiktor so much that she is willing to harm herself for it.
All through the movie, they went through phases of leaving each other and meeting each other. There are times where I thought that they finally meet in a good situation and time, but the plot continues to tell that they continue to have issues in their relationship. In the end, they are being shown to go to the abandoned church and prays together. The movie ends in a happier tone, showing the beautiful landscapes and bright sunny weather.
