ing Pawlikoski’s The Woman in
the Fifth and Ida, and she grasps
the chance to take centre stage
here with all the pent up fury of a
teenage girl given three minutes
to impress a talent show jury.
For all the pretty images con-
jured up by Pawlikowski and Żal,
the performances of Kulig and
Kot are what hold the narra-
tive together. I have to confess I
struggled to invest in their char-
acters’ romantic relationship
- one which begins with both
parties taking advantage of their
opposite’s vulnerabilities and
never really seems to progress
beyond any superficial, surface
level attraction - but Kulig and
Kol are so mesmeric in the roles
that it was only after the credits
rolled that I came to this conclu-
sion, my decision perhaps ex-
acerbated by the movie ending
with a preposterously melodra-
matic grand gesture that sug-
gests it was penned by an overly
emotional teenager.
w
Cold War
3 ½ stars out of 5
Directed by: Pawel Pawlikowski
Starring: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot,
Borys Szyc, Agata Kulesza,
Cédric Kahn
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 51
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