A bit of a disappointment to me

Rating: 6/10 (5 February 2019)

I should start off by saying I am a fan of Polish cinema, have even studied it in the past. This movie was a typical Polish intellectual movie: focus on emotion, scene development and the characters' emotional journey over huge plot developments. I can't fault this film for any of that. I also loved Pawlikowski's last work, Ida, with the two principal women in this film, but found it much superior,
There is a lot to like in the film. Excellent acting, gorgeous cinematography, a careful attention to sounds and scope. Pawlikowski is an expert at evoking strong emotions when you view a scene, he can make all people and items on the set work in concord to convey the overall feeling he wants. So far, so good!
For me, where the film falls short is in giving these characters a real direction or, in the case of Zula, making her likable. Also, frankly, despite the very good acting, I could not feel a strong chemistry between the two leads.
Beyond this: We get it - life in Post-war Poland was very hard, being freshly annexed and essentially made a Societ puppet state. Pawlikowski conveys so much meaning in the choice to add Russian folk songs to the Polish repertoire, resulting in the resignation of the conductor after a short while. Yes, the protagonist is imprisoned and Zula does basically marry someone she doesn't love to get him out of jail.But that is pretty much the end of the analysis of the massive scope of becoming part of the Soviet block, Beyond this, it is first a visit to favorite eastern block countries, then a long stay in Paris, followed by the return to Poland.
But where the movie loses me is in the character of Zula and their relationship. It is established she had a hard life. She becomes part of the choir because it is prestigious, she does what she has to do. But later, she basically devolves into this pouty hussy. Instead of looking at the real difficulties of immigration, we are brought to a huge apartment and glitzy nightclubs. She pouts over the repetoire she is to sing, is rude to her partner's previous partner. She marries an Italian just to immigrate and never even gives him a second thought. We understand things are dog eat dog in an Eastern block country but she is immediately painted in such a bad light, it's hard to root for her. She gets drunk, cheats on her boyfriend, evoking a slap, and then returns to Poland, apparently leaving the love of her life behind. Could their not be 10 mintues when she is generally happy they got out? This is due to 2 things: 1) She is supposed to be this incredible free spirit and Bohemian. But why then not establish this resistance, at least to a degree, within Poland? Their she was the great little soldier, even spying on her boyfriend to the higher-up's. 2) She is to have this incredible yearning to return to Poland - despite all of her "faults", her love for the fatherland is strong in her. But instead of exploring this in a deeper way, Zula's return to Poland is presented as a rash, impulse thing.
Yes, the couple redeem themselves a bit. he gives up his life in Paris to return to Poland, gets the anticipated prison punishment and she marries a jerk so that they can be together - ultimately leading to their own suicide pact, as living in their native country has become impossible. But, sadly, all of this is presented as a couple unable to decide what is what and what the reality is until it is too late. Instead of an intelligent discussion of why being in Poland means so much to them, it ultimately boils down to, "Oopsie, we really screwed up."
Finally, and this is just speculation - When Ida won the Oscar a few years ago, the Polish rightwing was outraged - How can this film smear the image of Poland? I'll leave it to others to discuss the veracity of some of the claims presented in the film. The point is, legislation was discussed to demand only positive portrayals of Poland in film, TV and other media. This film seems like something that would please the right-wing government: Most of what was bad is the fault of the Soviets. And we have this flighty, flawed couple who, despite their faults, make it back home to Poland out of love for country and/or each other. Perfectly pleasing for the rightwing audience. Not saying that most of this was not true but this film greatly lacks the moral ambiguities and personal contradictions found in Ida.