Cold War Review/ List of 10 Romantic Contemporary Black and White Films
3,9
Cold War (2018)
Paweł Pawlikowski
Cast: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Agata Kulesza, Jeanne Balibar, Boris Szyc
Length: 88 min
Country: Poland, France, United Kingdom
Differently from Ida, Cold War's scope seems much broader. In its mere 88 minutes, the film follows a complicated and impossible love story set against the shadow of the Iron Curtain.
It opens with music, which will be a crucial constant throughout the movie. First two violinists, then a little girl singing. Wictor, a pianist and music conductor (Tomasz Kot) and the producer Irene (Agata Kulesza) are recording the songs and melodies from small rural villages in a cold and desolated post-war Poland, with the intent of finding new faces to preserve traditional folk Polish music and dance. Their troupe is called Mazurek (based on a real historical forebear, Mazowsze).
During one of the audition, Wictor will be immediately mesmerised by the voice and the porcelain beauty of the enigmatic Zula (Joanna Kulig) who stands out from the competition by performing a Russian song she saw in a film. We don't know anything about her past, except that she is not from a village, but from the city. It is whispered that she killed her father, but she was never convicted.
As Wictor is falling in love with Zula, he is also falling out of love with his country, especially after the authorities demand Mazurek to sing celebratory praises of Stalin while ordering Zula to spy on him.
They plan to escape together to Paris, but only Wictor will go. We will witness their romance in fragmented episodes spread out during 20 years (during which they don't seem to age) following the characters in Paris, East Berlin, Zagreb and back to Poland.
Beyond its political and historical undercurrents, Cold War is ultimately a love letter to Pawlikowski’s parents. Named after real-life Wictor and Zula, the main characters cannot live with or without each other. You can perceive that Pawlikowski captures their turbulent relationship with tender affection.
Cold War feels more like a poem than a film. Another director would have told the same story in a 3 hours long epic journey shot in widescreen and vibrant technicolour, a bit like David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago (1965). Instead, Pawlikoski with little dialogues and plenty of music photographs small glimpses of life, often months or years apart from each other. It's like going through an old a family album where the photographer is Robert Doisneau. Every shot is breathtaking, meticulously composed and overwhelming to the eyes. It's visual poetry that much deserved the Best Director Award at Cannes this year. Like in poetry, Pawlikowski doesn't explain everything, and it's the audience that must fill the gaps and deciphers the metaphors.
Music becomes a storytelling tool. Stalinist propaganda was suffocating and controlling the rich Polish culture, whereas, in Paris, we witness a completely different mindset. Jazz is sovereign, a type of music governed by feelings and expressed through improvisation. One of the most beautiful scenes is when Zula, wholly drunk and bored, starts to dance frenetically at the sound of Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" in the nightclub Eclipse, where her dance almost becomes a trope for freedom. Cold War is a love song. At times warm and idyllic and at times sad and melancholic, but like any love song, it will end with silence. After which you can only applaud.
Movies you might like if you like Cold War:
Ashes and Diamonds (1958) by Andrzej Wajda
Bad Timing (1971) by Nicolas Roeg
The Lovers of the Bridge (1991) by Leos Carax
The Girl From the Bridge (1999) by Patrice Leconte
Ida (2013) by Paweł Pawlikowski
Niche List of the week
10 Romantic Contemporary Films shot in Black and White
As Cold War, all these movies are love letters. You can see patterns of Parisian caffés, cigarettes, women staring out of a window and existential "ennui". It might seem a rarity to find a contemporary black and white film, on the contrary, it's still a very used practice from many modern directors. I thought that this list would have been too specific. Instead, it was almost impossible to narrow it down to only ten films. I decided to go through film shot after 1980, even though many directors in the 70's were fascinated by the beauty of monochrome stills.
Modern directors choose black and white over colour for many reasons: To better capture the past; To create a sense of desolation and doom like in Bela Tarr's film; Or maybe to hommage the French Nouvelle Vag, the silent era and the screwball comedy classics that change our ways fo thinking of cinema. No matter what is the exact reason for this stylistic choice, it's evident that everything looks more beautiful in black and white, especially when they kiss. (Ordered by year)
- Boy Meets Girl (1984) by Leos Carax
Leos Carax took the world by storm with his Holy Motors (2012), one of the greatest oddity of modern cinema. His poetic feature debut, Boy Meets Girl, is just only a confirmation of his unique talent. Starring his muse Denis Levant, the movie follows a heart-broken inspiring filmmaker. His girlfriend dumped him for his best friend. He meets a young and beautiful suicidal girl who, as well, is reeling from a failed love story.
- Mala Noche (1985) by Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant debut feels like a queer version of a Kerouac book. Based on Walt Curtis' autobiographical novel and shot in gorgeous high contrast black and white, Mala Noche is a movie about the impossibility of love. The film follows the sexual encounters of Walt, a gay store clerk, who will obsessively fall in love with a Mexican "chico" who doesn't even speak English.
Not Van Sant's best, but a definitively a under seen gem in queer cinema.
Not Van Sant's best, but a definitively a under seen gem in queer cinema.
- Wings of Desire (1987) by Wim Wenders
An angel, played by a fantastic Bruno Ganz, overlooking the divided city of Berlin makes a wish to become a human mortal when he begins falling in love with a gorgeous French trapeze artist. It might be the most poetic synopsis you'll ever come across. Wim Wenders existential film is a glorious meditation on love, humanity, emotional connection and mortality of unmatched beauty. The juxtaposition between the evocative monochromatic scenes and the chaotic liveness of colour is a spectacle for the eyes. A masterpiece!
- Take Care of Your Scarf Tatiana (1994) by Aki Kaurismäki
The most critically acclaimed and original Finnish director working today, Aki Kaurismaki is an idiosyncratic talent which work is often an empathic love letter to humanity. Often recognisable for his bright use of colour, Kaurismaki chose instead to shoot "Take Care of the Scarf Tatiana" in black and white. It follows two misfits: A coffee addict and an alcoholic keen for vodka... Their life is miserable without coffee and vodka. They decide to hit the road, crossing the Volga, where they will pick up two women on the way: The Estonian Tatiana and the Russian Klavdia. Even if they don't share the same language, an awkward romance will sparkle. A minor and understated Kaurismaki that people need to see more
- Pleasantville (1998) by Gary Ross
Two teenagers (Toby Maguire and Reese Witherspoon) find themselves stuck inside a 1950 black and white sitcom. A "utopian" monochromatic world governed by puritan convictions. Their influence will literally and figuratively add colour to their world. A genius touch to use colours as a storytelling tool as well as an allegory for sexual repression, racism and self-acceptance. The cinematography by John Lidney is marvellous, and Joan Allen's performance is top-notch.
- The Girl From the Bridge (1999) by Patrice Leconte
Artfully directed by Laconte, "The Girl from the Bridge" is a bittersweet romantic comedy shot on location in Paris, Monte Carlo, San Remo, Athens and Istanbul in shimmering, high-contrast black-and-white. It begins with a professional knife thrower named Gabor (Daniel Auteuil) who rescues the beautiful and enigmatic Adèle (Vanessa Paradis) after she jumped from a bridge over the Seine. He recruits suicidal Adèle as assistants for his act. Knife-throwing has never been so romantic.
- Regular Lovers (2005) by Philippe Garrel
Phillippe Garell directs his son in this long, slow-paced and poetic film about love, longing and loneliness reminiscent of the Nouvelle Vague. Set in Paris in May 68', amidst the chaos of student and union protests, it follows a handsome and young poet (Louis Garrel) who falls in love with Lilie (Clotilde Hesme), a would-be sculptor. When the riots start to increase, the two seek shelter in the mansion of their affluent friend, where, along with other French youths, they smoke opium, write poetry and reflect on the situation outside.
- The Artist (2011) by Michel Hazanavicius
A masterful homage and farewell to the silent era. A timeless love letter to cinema which is so uplifting, moving and enjoyable that you will make you want to join a tap dance course. In the swinging 1920s, adored actor George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) finds himself falling in love with an ingenue named Peppy Miller (Hazanavicius's wife, Bérénice Bejo). With the advent of sound in movies, George's career begins to fade while Peppy's star rises. Six Academy Awards, frenetic music, gorgeous black and white and the best performance by a dog in the history of filmmaking
- Tabu (2012) by Miguel Gomes
Somewhat inspired by the surreal work of Raul Ruiz, Portuguese avant-garde director Miguel Gomes creates something entirely of his own. Shot in Academy Ratio, "Tabu" is partly a silent melodrama and partly a dreamlike exploration of Portugal's colonial past. It's one of the most outstanding and original pieces of art of the decade. Pilar is an extremely religious woman. Santa is a maid from Capo Verde who practices voodoo. The two try to find the man that their recently deceased friend, Aurora (Laura Soveral), had a passionate affair with in her youth.
- The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki (2016) by Juho Kuosmanen
Second Finnish film on the list which doesn't happen often. Winner of a Certain Regard at Cannes, Kuosmanen's joyful debut shot on gorgeous monochrome 16mm is a beautiful small big film about love and boxing.
Based on the true story of Finnish boxer Olli Maki while is championing for the World Featherweight title in 1962. There is only one problem, Olli has just fallen in love.
Honourable Mentions: Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009), Frantz (2016), Angel-A (2005), Mala Noche (1986), Foreign Land (1995), In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007)
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