1005 Cold War
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Re: Cold War (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2018)
Well put. Also, I am not sure how one can really argue that Zula as a character lack agency (or even backstory)?
- MichaelB
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Re: Cold War (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2018)
Quoted for emphasis, as this whole notion of "a vision of Poland to sell abroad" was replicated across the entire eastern bloc at the time, and indeed it was one of the easiest ways of obtaining permission to travel abroad. The Soviet Red Army Chorus being another excellent example.Mr Sausage wrote: ↑Tue Feb 05, 2019 8:52 pmThe movie even hints that this slavic dream girl is a cultural myth when Kaczmarek suggests dolling up one of the actual rural women to make her fit a slavic peasant ideal that Zula, a modern city girl, more outwardly represents. A vision of Poland to sell abroad.
And I suspect Pawlikowski will have been fully aware of the irony of his own earlier film Ida getting attacked in Poland for not toeing the accepted line (i.e. by raising still-contentious issues such as postwar Polish anti-Semitism) while praised in the West for being a perfectly-formed example of an "arthouse film" (and winning Poland's first Best Foreign Film Oscar after a full half-century of being a regular bridesmaid).
- HinkyDinkyTruesmith
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Re: Cold War (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2018)
According to Chris Evangelista, Cold War will not be getting a US physical release.
- domino harvey
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Re: Cold War (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2018)
No way that turns out to be true
- FrauBlucher
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Re: Cold War (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2018)
If so, Artificial Eye has the bluray in the UK.
- domino harvey
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Re: Cold War (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2018)
I imagine Amazon is trying to cultivate a period of exclusivity on Prime (I see Beautiful Boy likewise is physical-free but coming to Blu-ray in the UK), but no way they don’t eventually license these to any of the usual suspects for boutique releases at least. Guess their deal with LionsGate is kaput, at least
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- domino harvey
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Re: 1005 Cold War
Here we all are trying to predict Netflix exclusives and Criterion releases an Amazon Prime title!
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
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Re: 1005 Cold War
Also, AGI enters the collection!
New conversation between Pawlikowski and filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñàrritu
- DarkImbecile
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Re: 1005 Cold War
Wow, this is quite the delightful surprise! Good variety of features for a newer release, too
- Boosmahn
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Re: 1005 Cold War
I didn't like Ida that much but I'm hoping I feel differently about this one. I've heard great things.
- DarkImbecile
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Re: 1005 Cold War
It probably depends what turned you off about Ida; this is definitely the more vibrant and lively of the two, largely due to Kulig, but they share a fair amount of stylistic similarity.
- knives
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Re: 1005 Cold War
Was about to say the same thing. This is exciting news for one of the best filmmakers to come along in a while.domino harvey wrote: ↑Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:58 pmHere we all are trying to predict Netflix exclusives and Criterion releases an Amazon Prime title!
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Re: 1005 Cold War
This was one of my very favorite films of last year so it’s a great surprise to see it entering the collection, though this would seem to be the first instance of something most of us probably thought we’d see first with ROMA: a Criterion release of a film distributed by a streaming giant and available in 4k HDR on that platform, making the blu ray a downgrade in that sense for Prime subscribers. (Not sure if the Amazon 4k is available outside the US though.)
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1005 Cold War
I wished I liked this more than I did. If this was Ida getting a release it would be a no brainer for me. But glad to see Pawlikowski join the collection
- FrauBlucher
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- FrauBlucher
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- knives
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Re: 1005 Cold War
I'm incredibly sick and feverish right now so this won't make a lick of sense, but basically this surprised me by being even better than Ida. With a subtle flourish this regularly had me in tears and feeling pain. The movie is not, as I assumed, primarily about the communist regime, but rather Poland's victim complex and history of ethnic cleansing that it hides under the rug. This is the story of a Pole who says woe is me as the Russians try to make the Polish Soviets while never realizing he has done the same to his ultimate object of desire.
Making Zula Lemko had a profound effect on me, not only for how the film used that fact but also because of a personal edge. I grew up without knowing my father, but accidentally came into connect with his father who is Lemko some years ago. Having that background knowledge made many of the scenes painful to watch. Early on with the concert I was crying as the Polish talent scouts ironed out the culture from the Lemko music turning it into a sideshow attraction musically adapted to the comfort of Poles. Zula and her compatriots were killed in that scene.
The weight of that cruel hand seems to have informed both leads' reaction to the subsequent Soviet invasion and their sense of self. Zula whose home has been purified from her doesn't need to define herself as Polish, Soviet, Italian, or French. She is Zula. On the other hand Wiktor is driven mad to preserve his identity. This ultimately leads to a final scene of powerful identity refutation. Lemko, you see, are part of the Greek Catholic church, not Orthodox, while most Poles are Roman Catholic. Love must become a renunciation it seems.
Making Zula Lemko had a profound effect on me, not only for how the film used that fact but also because of a personal edge. I grew up without knowing my father, but accidentally came into connect with his father who is Lemko some years ago. Having that background knowledge made many of the scenes painful to watch. Early on with the concert I was crying as the Polish talent scouts ironed out the culture from the Lemko music turning it into a sideshow attraction musically adapted to the comfort of Poles. Zula and her compatriots were killed in that scene.
The weight of that cruel hand seems to have informed both leads' reaction to the subsequent Soviet invasion and their sense of self. Zula whose home has been purified from her doesn't need to define herself as Polish, Soviet, Italian, or French. She is Zula. On the other hand Wiktor is driven mad to preserve his identity. This ultimately leads to a final scene of powerful identity refutation. Lemko, you see, are part of the Greek Catholic church, not Orthodox, while most Poles are Roman Catholic. Love must become a renunciation it seems.
- therewillbeblus
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Re: 1005 Cold War
Thanks for sharing that personal connection, knives - it’s a great reminder how and why films affect each of us in a completely unique way. It’s worth noting that despite each character’s resilience through barriers to keep or form their identities, they’re both left in the same place in the end as a result of this “cruel hand.” As depressing as that may sound it’s rather optimistic to see people connect under such circumstances, which happens all the time, and another good reminder that within oppressive hopelessness that appears to scorch the earth barren, still exists bright lights as opportunities for love, connection, and thus life.
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Re: 1005 Cold War
Knives, thanks for that insightful post. Maybe it was there and I missed it but I had not quite appreciated that Zula was from a different ethnicity and not just from a different more rural community of Poland. The film worked for me even without that appreciation but your comments above provide a prism that I genuinely had not thought about.
- knives
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Re: 1005 Cold War
The film explicitly says the opening scenes are from a Lemko village in the scene where they are listening to the recording and the woman asks what language it is in.
- barryconvex
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Re: 1005 Cold War
I don't have much to add but I will say that the Richard & Linda Thompson record I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight kept entering my thoughts while watching, with the last scene in particular calling to mind When I Get To The Border which, in the context of the movie, is a song that speaks to some of the things Sausage summed up so well in his writeup. I was overwhelmed by this film and would probably place in the top five of the past decade. And the image of Joanna Kulig floating downstream, partially submerged while singing that beautiful Russian melody will not soon be forgotten.
- Mr Sausage
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Cold War (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2018)
DISCUSSION ENDS MONDAY, October 26th
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Members have a two week period in which to discuss the film before it's moved to its dedicated thread in The Criterion Collection subforum. Please read the Rules and Procedures.
This thread is not spoiler free. This is a discussion thread; you should expect plot points of the individual films under discussion to be discussed openly. See: spoiler rules.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
I encourage members to submit questions, either those designed to elicit discussion and point out interesting things to keep an eye on, or just something you want answered. This will be extremely helpful in getting discussion started. Starting is always the hardest part, all the more so if it's unguided. Questions can be submitted to me via PM.