Cold War (Zimna Wojna)

THE GIST: While selecting artists for a new troupe, a music director falls for a young woman. When the chance presents itself to flee communist Poland for a new life in Paris, he tries to convince her to follow him.

Cold War's director, Pawel Pawlikowski, received a Best Director Oscar nomination for his work here, and frankly I'm a bit surprised. I understand the Cinematography nod (and the Foreign Language one), but not direction, especially when there were better filmmakers to choose from.

Joanna Kulig and Tomasz Kot do a very nice job of looking dejected for their country's conditions and smitten with one another. The question is whether their efforts generate enough interest, and judging from the snoring I could hear coming from the closest occupied seat near me in the theater, it's a tossup.

THE BOTTOM LINE: This is one of those highbrow movies tailored to cinephiles that tend to leave a lot of people scratching their heads. I would not recommend it unless you're into this kind of film.However, it's not a bad movie either, and it's crafted with plenty of care.

Grade: 5