Thursday 13 December 2018

Movie Review: Cold War/Zimna wojna (2018)

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.


Every love story is the best especially when one is spawn from the love of both parents, and this movie, Cold War is the one which seems to be a love song to the director’s parents. Cold War is a movie that looks like montages placed together to create an art which pushes the boundary of what is defined as love, no matter how turbulent or volatile the fragile love is.

Turbulent as what the movie title suggested, Cold War is a movie that requires one to watch and interpret for their own instead of entering the cinema and leaving the place with a story that contents a person’s heart during the holiday season. It is no holiday season movie especially when it lacks the kind of warmth seen in movies like “Love Actually”, but it was still entertaining.

Set between 1949 and 1964 in a post-war Europe, Cold War tells a story of a relationship between two leading characters and how they are constantly being in this tug of war that never seem to end. It is not a common love and yet the turbulent relationship between the two people is somewhat relatable at some level. Between acts in the movie, we are shown that the characters first met during an audition held to fine pick individuals to be part of an exciting opportunity - a communal singing group travelling around Europe as a new folk act, an art in the making unlike the ordinary.

The attitude of the movie initially got me on the soft note that this was a romantic film as what was advertised by Amazon Studios - a hopeful glimmer of love in the conflicting harsh period of the history. Due to the movie being penned on the perspective of the leading woman, Zula, we managed to see the dynamics of the new world she was in and the love between her and Wiktor, her counterpart in the movie. I think what got me to realise and change my perception of Cold War was the scene act set in Paris, France. It is a crucial act to realise about the indifference of the relationship - one not understanding the life in Paris and its people, another not understanding the other person’s inability to accept the things the way they are.

As the movie progresses through more acts and cuts in between, you learned that Cold War is not about the unlikely relationship that is torn by the external factors, but the internal factors. Had the characters learn to be more patience and understanding, they would not have such difficulties and painful realisation that anything they do is improbable. That is why Cold War moved the audience - through the painful process of conflicting internal emotions and sympathy from song to song (“Two Hearts” is repeated in several acts but offered different emotional interpretation), and nostalgia imagery.

In conclusion, Cold War is at best, one of the anticipating foreign movies to look out. I would not suggest watching the movie if you are one for romance or similar to New Wave. However, at the very most, I believe Cold War is a movie that is best interpreted when you have a look at it for yourself and I think that is an experience that can never be taken away.

Ratings: 7/10

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