The Polish film “Cold War” (Zimna Wojna) by Pawel Pawlikowski, a very fine historical love drama, is available on Netflix and probably one of the best movies of 2018.
After the Second World War, a music director in Poland was commissioned to find talent for a Polish folk music ensemble. He travels the country looking for artists who can perform traditional songs and dances all the way to the smallest villages. The director and a young singer fall in love, and the film accompanies her up-and-down love story through the following years during the Cold War.
Like Pawlikowski’s film “Ida” (2013), the film was shot in black and white and in 1.37:1 image format, and the camera work and acting are excellent. There are many musical performances, from Polish folk songs such as the beautiful “Dwa Serduszka”, to Soviet hymns to jazz in the cafes of Paris.
Give it a try. As always it’s best in the Polish original with subtitles.
