Movie Reaction: Cold War

Formula: The Artist * Like Crazy

Film editing isn't appreciated enough. That is where most movies come together. The editor takes hours and hours of footage and puts it all together in a way that makes the story work. The screenplay gives a guide, but it isn't scripture. Often, the screenplay is bloated and begging to be cut down. The more movies I watch, the more I appreciate when the filmmaker and editors aren't too precious about their material. In a world of 2.5 hour movies that hit the same jokes or story points over and over, I've come to appreciate when a movie clocks in at a lean 90 minutes or less. There's a discipline to that.

The most exciting thing to me about Cold War going into it was that I saw it was only 1h29m. Based on the trailer and the plot description - a black and white film documenting a decades long affair between a singer and a music director in a cold war divided Europe - I was expecting something much longer and, frankly, duller. Instead, Cold War is a beautifully shot film with a singular focus and not an ounce of fat of the bone.

Zula (Joanna Kulig) is a singer from a small Polish town who is discovered by Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) for a troupe he's put together. Slowly, over years, they fall for each other. Repeatedly, circumstance and chance separate them and bring them back together. Also, their own jealousy and stubbornness get in the way, but their draw to each other is stronger than anything else. This relationship is the movie. There is no consideration for the other people who may have been hurt along the way for them to be together. I don't mean that as a negative thing either. There's no time for a love triangle. And that's why the movie works so well. Despite the fact that it jumps in time so much, there's still time to linger on a moment, since only one story matters. Kulig and Kot are very good. The whole film wrests on their immediate and undeniable chemistry.

The direction of the film is very beautiful. I'll admit, I came into the movie thinking the choice to shoot in black and white reeked of pretension. I was a quick convert though. It works for this story. Zula and Wiktor aren't in La La Land. This isn't a celebration. It's more like they can't quit each other. I'm not sure we're supposed to come away from this thinking that they are perfect for each other. That lack of color makes sure the audience never confuses it with a Hollywood romance or a classic musical. Director Pawel Pawlikowski also gets some just plain gorgeous shots with the black and white that wouldn't work in color. There were a couple shots that, as me friend described it, broke my brain. And it all works for the movie. It never feels like Pawlikowski is showing off.

I couldn't stop thinking of other movies this reminded me off. There's more than a little Like Crazy in this. It kind of felt like the whole Before trilogy mashed into one movie. Really, any doomed romance movie (however you define that) has some of the same DNA as Cold War, but Cold War didn't feel like it was copying anything. This even reminded me of Dunkirk in the way that it doesn't care if you pick up on the details of what's happening as long as you understand the feeling. I only vaguely knew what was happening most of the time. I'm sure I could research Pawlikowski's family story* or Polish history a little more to fill in some blanks, but I really didn't need them.

*Oh yeah, this movie is based on Pawlikowski's parents.

I know Roma is the deeply personal, black and white, foreign language masterpiece that I'm supposed to be fawning over from 2018, but Cold War is the one that impressed me more.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend