COLD WAR

Recipient of the Best Director prize at Cannes and a widely praised follow-up to his Academy Award-winner Ida, Pawel Pawlikowski’s latest film is a love story that wends its way through a partitioned Europe.

Tasked with putting together a folk-music troupe in post-WWII Poland, pianist Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) embarks on a torrid love affair with the much younger Zula (Joanna Kulig), a fiery singer with a past. When a performance in Berlin offers the pair an opportunity for escape, a last-minute decision causes them to be stranded on either side of the Iron Curtain. This, however, will not be their final meeting – or their final separation.

Spanning 15 years and several countries, and inspired by the real-life story of the director’s own parents, Cold War is a warmly lyrical, exquisite and emotional work replete with virtuosic black-and-white visuals and a keen sense of music, its interludes ranging from communist hymns to 1950s rock ’n’ roll. Already being touted as another Oscar contender for Pawlikowski, Cold War is one of the films of the year, and a must-see on the big screen.

"A mysterious, musically glorious and visually ravishing film. Five stars."– The Guardian