“Cold War”

Amazon

Although the time period in Pawel Pawlikowski’s mid- century European love story wasn’t completely foreign to him — it’s a tribute to his parents — it doesn’t mean he knew everything about the era. He researched Poland’s traditional folk song groups like the one where his star- crossed lovers Zula (Joanna Kulig) and Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) meet, organizations that were meant to instill patriotism in a country on the mend but were co- opted by the government. As for the use of Bill Haley & His Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock?” Pawlikowski says it came to him while writing.