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Films  ›  Paweł Pawlikowski

Cold War (2018)

Film
DirectorPaweł Pawlikowski
Meta takes5

Figures

Form & technique
  • The film's elliptical narrative structure
  • The sound design of the final scene → The Unseen Voice
  • The final scene of Zula and Wiktor's suicide in the ruined church
  • The film's soundscape, contrasting the diegetic folk music of Mazurek with the jazz of Paris
Tropes
  • Black-and-white cinematography and 4:3 aspect ratio → Hauntology
  • The transformation of the folk song "Dwa serduszka" (Two Hearts) → The Soft Arm of the Law
  • Zula's shifting persona and performative identity
  • Thematic and visual allusions to the Polish School of cinema → The Hand-Me-Down Haunting
  • The contrasting depictions of Poland and Paris → The Time-Space Crucible
  • The evolving arrangement of the song "Dwa serduszka" (Two Hearts)
  • The film's black-and-white cinematography and 4:3 "Academy" aspect ratio
  • Zula's shifting performance of self, from peasant girl to Parisian chanteuse
  • The contrasting key locations: the Polish Mazurek academy, the Parisian jazz club, the Yugoslavian performance stage

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