Cold War (Zimna wojna) (2018)

2018 was the year that two foreign auteurs directed very personal black-and-white dramas placed within a wider political context. Roma and Cold War are both beautiful; both directors are Oscar winners; and the movies are being distributed by competitors Netflix and Amazon. Roma is getting all the press and I think it's because Cold War is a more difficult movie. They both move very slowly but Cold War is thematically darker. Though there is tragedy in Roma, they experience joy. Even when Wiktor and Zula are madly in love, their joy is brief if they're feeling joyous at all. Eastern Europe in the Cold War seems miserable.  This is not a happy musical. It is melancholy. It is depressing folk music. Folk music doesn't really excite people the way it apparently used to. Even the jazzed up version is the depressing kind of Parisian jazz. The leads are alluring at both ends of the spectrum. Mirroring the Cold War that heats up and cools down, their relationship is all over the place. They separate and get back together, back and forth, and the actors are fabulous in both states of togetherness.

Ida (2013)

This movie is shot in black and white and a 1:33 frame to evoke an old film from the 1960s.  It almost makes it feel like the film was made in the time period it depicts.  This gives the viewer a sense of postwar Poland.  There are such long pauses that the film is almost silent.  It is admittedly a bit slow, but this adds to the dreary, eerie post-war atmosphere.  The awkward, off-center framing makes the viewer feel slightly uncomfortable.

The movie "discusses" a dark time in Polish history.  I say "discusses" because it never mentions the keywords "Holocaust," "Stalin," or "Occupation."  It is not about what is said, but what the film implies.  Agata Kulesza's Wanda does an excellent job at gesturing her statements as opposed to vocalizing them.  And Ida's silences speak as much as her words.  Ida and Wanda are perfect foils, and their time spent together, two unlikely road trip mates, affect them both greatly.   As far as road trip movies go, this one is highly unconventional.  It brings depth, poignancy, and reflection to a serious black eye in Polish history.