Love stories don’t always have to end the way that you think…

From Writer/Director Pawel Pawlikowski; Cold War is simply dripping in lush cinematic tones and you won’t be able to look away.

Poland, 1949 and Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) is talent-scouting the country to form a folk music group (patterned after real-life Mazowsze troupe).  Zulu (Joanna Kulig) auditions and catches his eye.  So begins a 15-year romance that will take them; divided by politics and attracted by passion to cities like Berlin, Yugoslavia, Paris and ultimately back to Poland.

Rarely has black and white cinematography actually felt as vibrant as it does here in Cold War.  Pawlikowski has an unmatched efficiency to him as every nook and cranny of the screen are dripping emotion and style which is all the more impressive considering his absence of anything on the color spectrum.  It’s a rarity to see a film that is both bittersweet yet exhilarating as he mines some of his own personal experiences to share rather complexly on the big screen.

The pairing of Tomasz Kot and Joanna Kulig is just oozing with magnetism.  There natural on screen chemistry helps to sell the passionate nature of their tryst while wrapped up in a volatile love/hate dynamic.

Ultimately, Cold War is not only a love story to the majestic form of cinema but also to that one that we’ve all had that got away, and just how truly perfect they were in spite of how tragic they may have been.