COLD WAR (2018) — Sleeper Awakened

2/18/19 - Cold War (2018) - 8/10

Was there a magic in her melancholy? Could he not see his exchanging one prison for another? Did the strain of her life and forbidden nature of their thoughts bring out the joie de vivre of a passionate existence? Questions and explorations deeper than the celluloid persist as this monumentally textured and exquisitely filmed tale of love & hardship in communist Poland. One of the best films of the year, absorbed into your eyes but melted into your soul.

Stark and harrowing cinematography. A black and white masterpiece. The compositions, blocking, and camera work are outstanding. There is a magical mix of grim and bittersweet, with each frame and each scene housing a hope, hidden in the reluctantly oppressive. Reminding me a great deal of black and white Tarkovsky.

Sad artists looking for a love that can’t ever materialize, like the songs in them that beg to pour out but are stifled by whatever happens to be the problem. Love is the cold war, full of feints, posturing, double crosses, and mistaken gambits. It is a battle that can have no winners, only more pain. But for those who persevere, a shallow grave of good intentions awaits.

Both ardent and alluring, it is a tremendous film that subsumes your everything while emptying its wistful longings into the ether that was you. I loved it even more than his wonderful Ida.