History Film / ColdWar

** The consule in Paris. When he's done with protocole, he simply chews Wiktor for his desire to return to Poland, because not only the country isn't the most pleasant place to be, but he's ''at best'' going to end up in prison for decades. [[ShotAtDawn At worst...]]

* CommieLand: Communist Poland. And Yugoslavia, too. What makes this case curious is the fact Yugoslavia was an unaligned country, while Poland was under Soviet boots.
* CrapsackWorld: Communist Poland, where people are forced to spy on each other, where artists and ethnographers are forced to make propaganda works, where you will go to a HellholePrison for 15 years if you leave the country illegally.

* FemmeFatale: Zula combines the coldness with being ruthless, while she doesn't shy from using her looks to achieve her goals. She actively plays on Wiktor's interest in her to just get into "Mazurek" and then marries ''twice'' to different men just to achieve what she wants.

* LoveMakesYouDumb: After escaping from the country, Wiktor can't find his place in Paris and is longing for Zula. He travels to places where "Mazurek" performs and ultimately [[spoiler:goes back to Poland in the end, despite everyone outright telling him it's lethal level of stupidity]].

* SignatureStyle: Just like his previous film, Film/{{Ida}}, Pawlikowski wrote a {{Retraux}} story set during the 50s and 60s in Polish People's Republic about inability to fit in, all filmed in DeliberatelyMonochrome.

** The entire propaganda value of "Mazurek" is to show to the "rotten bourgeoisie world" the true value of folk culture and art. Along with hefty dose of Stalinist propaganda, of course.

** {{Subverted|Trope}}: in Paris, Wiktor waits for Zula a very long time in a bar. The bar is going to close when Zula finally shows up.

* {{Unperson}}: Strongly implied to be the reason why Irena disappears from the story. She first shows clear dissatisfaction with adding propaganda to the repertoire and then ''walking out'' while "Mazurek" performs a song to Stalin. That's the last time she's seen or mentioned.

* PropagandaMachine: Wiktor's troupe, Mazurek, is part of communist Poland's propaganda machine. Aside from genuine folk numbers, it also performs propaganda pieces, like one about how great [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Stalin]] is.

* PropagandaMachine: Wiktor's troupe, Mazurek, is part of communist Poland's propaganda machine. Aside genuine folk numbers, it also perform propaganda pieces, like one about how great [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Stalin]] is.

* PropagandaMachine: Wiktor's troupe, Mazurek, is part of communist Poland's propaganda machine. It produces propaganda numbers, like one about how great [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Stalin]] is.

* YourCheatingHeart: Zula marries. Twice. Each time to be with Wiktor. [[spoiler:And apparently Kaczmarek is content with this, since all he needs is a son and a TrophyWife, so he let's it all slide as long as he can claim ultimate victory over Wiktor]].

* BookEnds: In the end, Zula and Wiktor decide to go back to the ruined church that Wiktor explored in the beginning [[spoiler:to commit suicide]].

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The entire casting scene is one for Zula. While waiting for her turn, she befriends another girl and performs with her to make herself more noticable (despite not even comming from mountains and yet singing a folk song from there). When asked to sing something on her own and sensing Bielecka doesn't want her, she starts singing in Russian, making it thus hard to get rid of her for political reasons. And when told it's enough, she still demands on her own to finish the refrain. Bielecka instantly notes the girl is calculating and over-ambitious, but since Wiktor is charmed by her, she's still let into the troupe.

* HellholePrison: The prison where Wiktor is sent when he goes back to Poland. When he finally goes out, he cannot play the piano any more due to completely mangled hand.

* AdvertisedExtra: [[spoiler:Agata Kulesza, playing Bielecka, is in grand total of 8 scenes and leaves after initial 12 minutes. Borys Szyc, who played Kaczmarek, is a downplayed case (since he stopped being an A-lister long time ago), but he still only shows up only for a handful of scenes sprinkled throughout the whole film]].

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The entire casting scene is one for Zula. While waiting for her turn, she befriends another girl and performs with her to make herself more noticable (despite not even comming from mountains and yet singing a folk song from there). When asked to sing something on her own and sensing Bielecka doesn't want her, she starts singing in Russian, making it thus hard to get rid of her for political reasons. And when told it's enough, she still demands on her own to finish the refrain. Bielecka instantly notes the girl is calculating and over-ambitious, but since Wiktor is charmed by the girl, she's still let into the troupe.

* AdvertisedExtra: [[spoiler: Agata Kulesza, playing Bielecka, is in grand total of 8 scenes and leaves after initial 12 minutes. Borys Szyc, who played Kaczmarek, is a downplayed case (since he stopped being an A-lister long time ago), but he still only shows up only for a handful of scenes sprinkled throughout the whole film]].
* TheAlcoholic: Strongly implied in the end with Zula. She looks and behaves the part, along with being piss-drunk while performing on stage. Considering what kind of things she did [[spoiler: to Wiktor and then to get him out of prison]], it's no wonder she turned to the bottle.

* {{Blackmail}}: Due to a suspended sentence and possibility of prison, Zula agrees to [[spoiler: spy on Wiktor for Kaczmarek]].

* ColdBloodedTorture: [[spoiler: The most likely reason why Wiktor's hand looks like put through a meat grinder]].

* {{Fingore}}: [[spoiler: When Zula visits Wiktor in prison, she notices his hand was wrecked, most likely on purpose]].

* HeroicSeductress: Zula charms Kaczmarek and [[spoiler: even has a child with him]] in order to get Wiktor's release.

* LoveMakesYouDumb: After escaping from the country, Wiktor can't find his place in Paris and is longing for Zula. He travels to places where "Mazurek" performs and ultimately [[spoiler: goes back to Poland in the end, despite everyone outright telling him it's lethal level of stupidity]].
* LostInTranslation: While she's mostly fuelled by jelously, Zula still makes a point Juliette's translation of the lyrics for her song completely misses the actual meaning.

* MarriageOfConvenience: Despite being married twice, Zula couldn't care less about either of her husbands. This even includes [[spoiler: having a son just for the sake of convenience]].

** The StateSec agents in Yugoslavia. They do capture Wiktor, but [[spoiler: rather than handling him to Poles, they simply load him into a train heading to France and make it explicitly clear they don't want any harm to him, but no girl is worth the shit he is putting himself into]].

* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler: Wiktor goes back to Poland. ''Everyone'' knows it's a god-awful idea. He still goes with it and predictably ends up with a sentence of 15 years of hard labour in a quarry]]. If not for Kaczmarek's connections to get him out, he would probably died there.
** [[spoiler: Irena could be either this or simply DrivenToSuicide when he starts to visibly resent the political orders]].

* YourCheatingHeart: Zula marries. Twice. Each time to be with Wiktor. [[spoiler: And apparently Kaczmarek is content with this, since all he needs is a son and a TrophyWife, so he let's it all slide as long as he can claim ultimate victory over Wiktor]].

* {{Unperson}}: Strongly implied to be the reason why Irena disappears from the story. She first shows clear dissatisfaction with adding propaganda to the repertoire and then ''walking out'' while "Mazurek" performs a song to Stalin.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The entire casting scene is one for Zula. While waiting for her turn, she befriends another girl and performs with her to make herself more noticable (despite not even comming from mountains and yet singing a folk song from there). When asked to sing something on her own and sensing Bielecka doesn't want her, she starts singing in Russian, making it thus hard to get rid of her for political reasons. And when told it's enough, she still demands on her own to finish the refrain.
* FemmeFatale: Zula combines the coldness with being ruthless, while she doesn't shy from using her looks to achieve her goals. She actively plays on Wiktor's interest in her to just get into "Mazurek".

* HeroicSeductress: Zula charms Kaczmarek and even has a child with him in order to get Wiktor's release.

* AbusiveParents: Zula says that her father tried to rape her.
* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler:Did Zula and Wiktor's attempt at suicide fail?]]
* AttemptedRape: Zula's father tried to rape her, but she defended herself with a knife.

* ColdWar: The story is set in communist Poland and in Paris, where Wiktor settles after [[DefectorFromCommieLand his defection]].
* CommieLand: Communist Poland.
* CrapsackWorld: Communist Poland, where people are forced to spy on each other, where musicians are forced to make propaganda works, where you will go to a HellholePrison for 15 years if you leave the country illegally.

* HellholePrison: The prison where Wiktor is sent when he goes back to Poland. When he finally goes out, he cannot play the piano any more, because one of his hands is injured.

* DefectorFromCommieLand: Wiktor goes illegally from East Berlin to East Berlin, and then he settles in France.

* PropagandaMachine: Wiktor's troupe, Mazurek, is part of communist Poland's propaganda machine. It produces propaganda number, like one about how great [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Stalin]] is.

* BookEnds: In the end, Zula and Wiktor decide to go back to the ruined church where they met in the beginning [[spoiler:to commit suicide]].

* HeroicSeductress: Zula charms an influential man and even has a child with him in order to get Wiktor's release.

* RapeAsBackstory: Zula says that her father tried to rape her.

''Cold War'' is a 2018 Polish drama film directed by the Paweł Pawlikowski, starring Joanna Kulig and Tomasz Kot.

* GreenEyedMonster: In Paris, Zula is very jealous of Juliette, the ex-girlfriend of Wiktor. This is one of the main reason why she goes back to Poland.