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 & 113 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

Pawel Pawlikowski's second film since he returned to live in his native Poland after spending several years in the UK. Ida (2013) was the first.

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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 Strunc!: Václav Marhoul (2019)

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Soundtracks

The Internationale
Words by Eugène Pottier (uncredited)
Music by Pierre De Geyter (uncredited)
[Communist anthem]

User Reviews

An extraordinary achievement

I had the good fortune to see this excellent film at the Pod Baranami film house in Kraków in July... at the (heartbreaking) end of the film the audience sat in silence while the credits rolled. At 88 minutes it is a short film, it is in a subtle black and white, there are no fancy effects, one scene follows another with a brief blank screen between, and yet the film grips from beginning to end. The ensemble performances are strong, the two leads are magnificent and the sense of place and period are perfect. What is extraordinary is the way in which the film creates a potent reminder of the ways in which the human spirit and love can survive the worst that a totalitarian state can inflict on its people. In our time, while far right politics rears its ugly head, there is also a timely warning in this extraordinary achievement in European cinema.

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