NEWS

The Davidson Film Club is pleased to invite you to a discussion of the Polish masterpiece Cold War, nominated for three Oscars and three BAFTA awards, on Saturday, January 22, at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom.

“Heart-thumping: the passion on display is of all sorts, a steady flame against the cold.” Matthew Lickona, San Diego Reader

Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski
Poland (2018, 1h29)
In Polish with English subtitles

*The Davidson Film Club will remain virtual in January and until further notice owing to the current surge in COVID cases brought on by the Omicron variant. We are just as eager as you are to return to the Armour Street Theatre as soon as we feel it is safe again!

Discussion will be led by Dr. Peter Thorsheim, Vice-President of the Davidson Film Club, Prof. of History at UNC-Charlotte, and a Cold War scholar.

Cold War may be obtained from Netflix by mail (subscribers) or streamed on Amazon Prime Video (subscribers also). Prime Video offers a 30-day free trial, so Cold War may be watched on Prime Video and the subscription kept, if you so desire, or cancelled before the end of the free trial period:

There is no membership fee for this program, only, at most, the modest cost of the on-line film rental that yields no revenue to the Davidson Film Club.

Film Summary:

A passionate love story between two people of different backgrounds and temperaments, who are fatefully mismatched and yet condemned to each other. Set against the background of the Cold War in 1950s Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris, it’s the tale of a couple separated by politics, character flaws and unfortunate twists of fate – an impossible love story in impossible times.

Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 92%!

Nominated for 3 Oscars and 3 BAFTA (British Oscars) Awards for Best Director, Best Film not in English, and Best Cinematography. 35 wins and 104 nominations in all including multiple Best Director, Best Film, Best First Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

•  “With a brilliantly stark visual aesthetic to match its lean narrative, Cold War doesn’t waste a moment of its brief running time — and doesn’t skimp on its bittersweet emotional impact.” Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus
•  “Cold War captivates and transcends barriers of language and culture. It’s a gorgeous tale as rocky as it is romantic.” Adam Graham, Detroit News
• “What struck home the most forcefully for me in Cold War is its depiction, insidious and unrelenting, of how artists under communism suffered for their art. At its best, the film is like a bulletin from a benighted world.” Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
•  “Communist Poland in the 1950s is a frigid land of slippery political sands in director Pawel Pawlikowski’s graceful, gorgeously retro, black-and-white dedication to his parents.” Andiee Paviour, Nobody’s Reading This But Me
•  “What the film is doing is recognizing their indelible life force and originality; it’s a cri de cœur hurled toward an increasingly hidebound and emotionally stunted era of Western civilization.” Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader
• “Zula and Wiktor age as the years pass, not only in body and attire, but in their very souls, becoming weighed down by political chess games they’ve been forced to become a part of.” Siddhant Adlakha, Slashfilm

Our updated website at www.davidsonfilmclub.com features the whole up-coming series (January-June 2022) and film descriptions. Have you Bookmarked it? 

We are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization run by volunteers that only exists to bring you fine international fiction films and engage in stimulating discussion about them. Hope to see many of you on Zoom on Saturday, Jan. 22, for the discussion of this hard-hitting, heart-rending film!

 Alan
Alan Singerman
President, Davidson Film Club
[email protected]
(704) 231-6736