Pawel Pawlikowski returns to the black and white 4:3 aspect ratio that worked so well with 'Ida'. This is a stunning film. Joanna Kulig gives a brilliant performance as one half of a couple faced with decisions and adversity in post war communist Poland. Based loosely on the Director's own parents, it's a devastatingly captivating love story involving music, tragedy and politics. Spanning 15 years, the film uses music to evolve the story and the phenomenal set design / ambience of the film really captures the state of flux that Europe was in at the time. Lukasz Zal's cinematography will live long in the memory. I need a few days to digest this one but I can't see it being beaten on my best movies of 2018 list.
not gonna lie, I absolutely ugly cried a couple of times just watching Zula singing or dancing and I will never be ashamed of it
she's absolutely mesmerizing and although the whole movie is a masterpiece, Kulig is the one you will always be searching for on the screen. amazing.
This is a good love story and knowing it is based off the director's parents makes it better. It has some great performances, good music and looks beautiful. The editing and use of black screens was fantastic.
There is just something about this movie. On one hand, it is slow, plodding and dark. On the other, there are moments of beauty, heart and an unfathomable passion. Basically, it is the intense love story of two people (reputedly the author's parents) that spans 15 years and transects Europe. From the very beginning the character Zusa emerges as the axis upon which Wiktor's world revolves. No matter where he goes to escape oppression he cannot escape Zula's hold over him. It is impossible to take your eyes off Joanna Kulig as she inhabits this character or to escape the spell she weaves. This is fine acting. The choice of a black and white palette suits the mood of the piece while the life of the music shattters those bounds. Not a movie for everyone but there was something about it that captured me. Nominated for multiple awards, including 3 Oscars in 2019, it has been well received by film critics and festivals. I give this film a 7 (good) out of 10. [Dramatic Love Story]
A simple movie with gorgeous visuals.
It's not one which will have you on the edge of your seat throughout but the effort of 4:3 and black and white add some authenticity to it.
The fact that this is dedicated to Pawlikowski's parents, as some have mentioned, creates a new sense of magic around the film.
I don't want to be 'that' bloke, but it needs to be said. This is a love story, and love stories are lazy screen writing.
They're like the parsley of cinema: totally bland but they go with everything. "It's a love story?" "Yes, but set in Eastern Europe / the Himalayas / a circus." "Oh, that's brilliant then." The background doesn't make the story, just like parsley shouldn't be the center of the meal. Of course, there are people who love parsley, and this film is for them.
Sadly, the bland story (and honestly, if you want to watch the original version of this film, it's called Splendor in the Grass and was made in 1961 with Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty) ruins what's tasteful about the film. The acting is spot on (both leads excel in their roles) and Paweł Pawlikowski deservedly won best director at Cannes 2018. Basically, film students / lovers and parsley eaters are the best audience for this film.
Another final nit to pick, if someone makes a film about an adult choir director having sex with a student in this day and age, the internet is (rightfully) up in arms. So, why does filming it in black and white suddenly make it OK?
Like its predecessor, Ida (2013), this movie has stunning black and white cinematography
Aesthetically perfect; narratively frustrating
Reading around some of the reviews of Zimna wojna [Cold War], I recognise that this should have been a film I liked, loved even, as so much of what these critics are praising are exactly the kinds of things I myself often look for in a film, and I genuinely wish I had been able to get what people like The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw or the Los Angeles Times's Justin Cheng have gotten from it. It's one of the best reviewed films of the year (94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing), and I freely acknowledge there's a huge amount to praise here, with elements of the visual design borderline genius. However, all the aesthetic brilliance in the world doesn't hide what, for me, is its single greatest flaw - it just left me utterly cold; I didn't care about the two main characters, and I didn't buy their relationship. Yes, I'm aware that emotional detachment is exactly what it was going for, and it's probably unfair to criticise a film for successfully doing what it intended to do, but when it ended, all I could think was "meh." Now, I know what you're thinking, because I've thought it myself in relation to any number of user reviews for any number of films – you're probably already formulating your "go back to Michael Bay" comments, and I can't say I blame you. But, whilst I can certainly appreciate much of what is on offer, and understand why critics have loved it, the end result for me was one of indifference. Although, to be fair, that may say more about myself than the film.
For my complete review, please visit: https://boxd.it/w7Fov
The original title of the film is Zimna Wojna.
Perfection Perfection Perfection Perfection Perfection Perfection Perfection Perfection Perfection Perfection
Yeah this was probably pretentious enough for the posh "I know everything about the art of film"-people to wet their pants. I found it insipidly dull and the only thing I'll remember more than an hour after I finished watching is that first song about someone knocking on a Dorr and laying his head on a stone cause no-one opens. OK photo though.
Zula, a Polish singer femme fatale in this black and white movie with folk music.
cinematography and direction, wow amazing..
Film with a slightly disappointing beginning but that is growing around the dialogues of the characters that are really brutal. A great movie, sincere and unadorned
A masterpiece...the best of the year...a triumph...allegedly. Perhaps I saw a different film! Sure, the film is well made, has a fine attention to detail, and a pair of fine performances from the leads. However, there was little context to the relationship at the heart of the film, and for a love story, there surely needed to be more resonance to bring the couple's passion and love to life. And while I know the film is biographical - the story is based on the lives of the director's parents - I did feel a little creeped out by the predatory nature of the relationship, especially at the beginning. So, the film left me underwhelmed and disappointed, more so after reading the rave reviews on this site and in the press. Or perhaps there is a fault within me - perhaps I am as cold as the title and the monochromatic framing.
Masterpiece. I enjoyed in every second of this beautiful movie. It's so nice watching in b&w and 4:3. Totally recommend.
Visually stunning, but the love story was lacklustre, personally. Just felt like something I'd seen a hundred times before, only this time it was told through beautiful, sober and intense film making, which made for a very interesting viewing experience nevertheless. I like how the film started and ended in the same place - no matter how much they tried to escape, in the end all they had was rural Poland . I also absolutely loved the music and Joanna Kulig's performance. The little insight we're given into Cold War Poland adds texture to the film, and you could say its title is a play on words between the time in which the story is set and the couple's relationship and journey to being happy/together.
7/10
bajeczka miłosna do jednorazowego obejrzenia. smętna fabuła, choć robi się ciekawie, gdy okazuje się, że kulig, by wyciągnąć kota z więzienia sypia i rodzi dziecko ubekowi... warto obejrzeć, dla kulig i kota.. wyglądają rewelacyjnie..
This was easily one of my favorite films of 2018. If I had to sum up the film in two words the phrase "minimalist epic" comes to mind. I was blown away but the acting and the way that the director told the story. How the story was wrapped up was really amazing and summed up the film quite nicely.
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A breathtaking visual experience. One for the senses.
Review by salvatore del giudiceBlockedParent2019-01-20T00:07:27Z— updated 2019-06-02T23:31:49Z
I will tell the truth: if I had not known that the story of the two main characters is taken (partly) by the story of Pawlikowski's parents (in fact the movie is dedicated to them), I would have been slightly disappointed. But knowing that, everything appears to me in a different light. It is clear from the outset that the director does a little construction of the characters: it is as if he knew them too well and had no interest in forcing descriptions and dialogues and in highlighting their personalities. This leads the viewer to witness a story of unconvincing love: platonic, but often fleeting; strong, but fragile. But there's simply no time to become attached to the two. And one can also see this in the film's duration of only 80 minutes. Passion is not an easy feeling to cultivate, and distance is a double-edged sword.
The strength of this movie is the tenderness of this love story: mystical, silky, ordered even if impossible. To lose oneself, to find oneself again, to lose oneself again and find oneself again: it's the circle of love.
The black and white technique contributes to weave the plot. One thing however needs to be noticed more than the B&W: the editing is just stunning. There are some black frames just perfectly included between two sequences, also with the sounds, giving the impression that the earliest sequence is not over yet, but it is. The moments of silence of this movie are among the best you can find in contemporary cinema.
Stalinist Poland is a background that adds mystery and difficulty, but comes out in the end in all its cruelty when the male protagonist (a pianist) is sentenced to fifteen years of forced labor that forever destroy his hands, forcing him to not play ever again (music is a strong part of the movie: Wiktor is a pianist and a composer, Zula is a wonderful singer and dancer, and they met the first time during an artistic audition).
In the end, their love is crowned, but in the only possible way: fleeing from the world and rising. The last seconds show a field crossed by the wind, a force of nature, nature that constantly fights against entropy, like the two characters.
7/10