Saved events

Cold War (15)

Members' Screening

Cold War

Oscar-winning director of Ida returns with a mesmerising love story between two people who despite their mutual passion, are fatefully mismatched.

Loosely inspired by director Paweł Pawlikowski's parents, the oppressive Cold War plays as backdrop to the tumultuous love story between singer Zulia (the effortless magnetic Joanna Kulig) and pianist Wiktor (Tomasz Kot). Endlessly drawn to each other, across meetings in Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris, they unable to co-exist but equally unable to move on.

The film's very structure – particularly through use of narrative ellipses – serves to compound their bond as Julia rises to fame and they perform across Eastern Europe (the film includes some brilliantly choreographed musical numbers) and realise they must find a way to slip past the Iron Curtain, and soon.

UK/Poland/France 2018 Dir Paweł Pawlikowski 84 min

Photo of Barbican Cinema red seats

Podcast: Cinema

Subscribe to our fortnightly podcast for interviews and discussion about our film programme, from the iconic to the independent, art-house to the award-winning - plus our incredible archive of ScreenTalks.

Available on iTunes, Spotify and Acast

Barbican Cinema 2