What I Watched -- Cold War

S and I had an impromptu date night and went to see Cold War at Frontenac.  We had hoped to eat at Canyon Cafe (did you know Cardwell's closed?), but the wait was too long.  Instead we dined on (surprisingly good) hot dogs and a bottle of wine from the theater.  Not sure if it was cheaper than Canyon Cafe would have been, but it was a more amusing meal. 

Now, about the movie.  Visually stunning shots pepper the film, and those should not be ignored.  They are as much a part of the story as the love story itself.  This movie doesn't have a score.  It has an interesting soundtrack -- a combination of Polish peasant music, jazz, and a bit of rock 'n roll -- but no score.  It is an unusual choice for a movie that is so stunningly shot, with lots of big, sweeping vistas and close-up contemplative shots.  It seems odd, at first, that there is no background music.  But then you begin to hear the other sounds.  The wind whistling, or the rustle of tree leaves, and the decision not to score those shots makes a lot of sense.

The director also had a wonderful way of glossing over what might be immense plot points in a different film -- for example (and I will try to share this without being too spoiler-y), the male lead was at one time a phenomenal piano player, which is huge because it is music that brought this couple together.  Something happens to him and he can no longer play, but rather than making the event that terminated his playing a central focus, you see none of it and only get a passing reference to what happened later in the film when someone asks him to play a piece.  No explanation, no further mention, just a casual, "eh, sh** happens," sort of bypassing.  Why this matters, in my opinion, is that it gives scale to everything else in the movie.  If his inability to play the piano, which was such a central part of who he was, doesn't deserve any further explanation, the things that do deserve explanation - the love story - begin to loom even larger.

On the subject of the love story, though, I found immensely frustrating.  It was more of a love-hate story.  It had a bit of Romeo and Juliet about it, but unlike that play, where circumstances, mistakes, and oversights get in the lovers' way, in Cold War, they get in their own way.  And that made them very unlikable for me.

Bottom line: I'm not surprised it was nominated for an Oscar on account of all the good directing choices, but at the end of the day I didn't really like it.