Cold War - 3 nominations

Foreign Language Film - Poland; Paweł Pawlikowski

Cinematography - Łukasz Żal

Director - Paweł Pawlikowski

Cold War is the entry from Poland following Wiktor, a brilliant musical director who opens the film auditioning young people to join a troupe that will revive traditional folk music and dancing just following World War 2.  Poland is looking to regain its independent identity, and this tour is just the thing to help accomplish that.  Wiktor falls in love with a young woman in the cast named Zula, who frankly still seems like a teenager at the start of the film, which for me made it hard to get on board with their love from the beginning.  As things grow more dangerous in Poland, Wiktor tries to convince Zula to defect with him to France.  She fails to meet him and he goes alone to a new country.  

The tour continues and they find themselves together again in France (he, living there, her on tour there), and they both leave their partners to reunite as a couple, this time living in France.  (By now she is a fully formed adult, and I grew more comfortable with their relationship.) They produce a magnificent album and they begin to have success when Zula becomes dissatisfied with their fancy lives and insists on returning to Poland.  Eventually he goes after her and is arrested and put into a labor camp.  She finds him there and pulls strings to get him out of prison early, but that does not mean that their lives will get better, as the complications of living in such a difficult place crush any hopes they have for the future.  As she sings in a traditional Polish song, "oy yoy yoy."

I enjoyed Cold War but (as I did last year with Call Me By Your Name), I have a very difficult time with romantic relationships between adults in their 30's and teenagers.  (Call Me By Your Name was a 17 year old and a 24 year old, I know.)  I understand the need for this device in this film, but it doesn't mean that I have to like it.  At least in this one, eventually we see the couple together when they are both adults.  It is a sad, confusing, touching story.  The use of black and white is so right on with this film, and it is interesting that two films this year both nominated for Director and Cinematography are shot in black and white.  I don't suspect that Cold War will win any awards, but it is worth seeing.