Cold War (2018)

In the 1950s, a music director falls in love with a singer and tries to persuade her to flee communist Poland for France.

Director:

Pawel Pawlikowski

Writers:

Pawel Pawlikowski (story), Pawel Pawlikowski (screenplay)

Stars:

Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 45 wins & 114 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joanna Kulig	...	Zula
Tomasz Kot	...	Wiktor
Borys Szyc	...	Kaczmarek
Agata Kulesza	...	Irena
Cédric Kahn	...	Michel
Jeanne Balibar	...	Juliette
Adam Woronowicz	...	Consul
Adam Ferency	...	Minister
Drazen Sivak	...	Sleuth 1
Slavko Sobin	...	Sleuth 2
Aloïse Sauvage	...	Waitress
Adam Szyszkowski	...	Guard
Anna Zagórska	...	Ania
Tomasz Markiewicz	...	Leader of ZMP
Izabela Andrzejak	...	Mazurek

Storyline

A passionate love story between two people of different backgrounds and temperaments, who are fatefully mismatched and yet condemned to each other. Set against the background of the Cold War in the 1950s in Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris, the film depicts an impossible love story in impossible times.

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Plot Keywords:

cold war | border crossing | audition | musician | marriage | 

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Taglines:

Love has no borders.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexual content, nudity and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was shot in chronological order of the times it depicts, with increasing visual contrast and changes in the focal length of lenses as the story develops.

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Goofs

When Wiktor crosses the border to West-Berlin in 1952, we can see on the horizon a high-rise with a rotating Mercedes-Benz star on the top. This is supposed to be the famous Europa-Center, but that was built in 1963 and only completed in 1965. It's probably poetic license to visually distinguish the capitalist West from the communist East.

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Quotes

Juliette: [jealous] Did you visit the whores ?
Wiktor: [smlies] I have no money for whores. I was with the woman of my life.
Juliette: [dry] Wonderful. Then let me sleep.
[turns away from him]

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Connections

Referenced in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: Oscars 2019 Recap (2019)

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Soundtracks

Loin de Toi
Performed by Joanna Kulig

User Reviews

Style over Content

This is another case of style over content. The look of this film is stunning , deliberately reminiscent of the European films of the 50'sand 60's however there is no substance to the story. The script jumps years and places so many times that we never care enough about the main characters and their love story which is the main focus of the film (some would say only focus) as the major political changes that took place during this period are kept so far in the background that they seem insignificant and ultimately irrelevant.The jazz sequences in a Paris cafe only seem to be included to show some great smoky black and white photography rather than to move the plot forward. I appreciate that this is a very personal story for the director but in the transition to the screen he has lost the tragedy and emotion that he wanted to convey to audiences... and what could have been a great film is only 'quite good'.

Details

Official Sites:

Kino Swiat [Poland] MK2 Films [France]

Country:

Poland UK France Belgium

Language:

Polish French Croatian German Russian Serbian Italian

Release Date:

8 June 2018 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Cold War

Filming Locations:

Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland

Box Office

Budget:

EUR4,300,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$54,353, 23 December 2018

Gross USA:

$4,580,048

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,343,051

Company Credits

Production Co:

Opus Film, Polski Instytut Sztuki Filmowej, MK2 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White (ACES)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1