Tomasz Kot

In Cold War (2018), Tomasz Kot makes Wiktor Warski's longing seem to occupy every waking hour. The performance gives the couple's unhappiness a weight that does not depend on our approving of either of them. We were moved by him because wanting Zula looks so exhausting, and Kot makes the exhaustion feel permanent. He takes Wiktor seriously enough to let us care about him while still allowing us to question how he behaves.

His work in Polish television and comedy sits alongside a reputation for careful preparation and physical adaptability. Kot made his leading film debut as the blues musician Ryszard Riedel in Destined for Blues (2005). His major Polish breakthrough came as heart surgeon Zbigniew Religa in Gods (2014), a performance praised for its precise imitation of behaviour and physical traits. Those parts offer concrete tests of an actor's skill, since there is a real person to compare him with. In Wiktor, what matters is whether we believe that the feeling will last.

Paweł Pawlikowski gets that belief from the pairing as much as from either actor alone. Joanna Kulig gives Zula impatience and appetite, disturbing the film's careful compositions, while Kot makes her restlessness harder to bear. We can understand the attraction without wishing the two behaved as they do. The film does sometimes make their work harder: the gaps between scenes leave the lovers' feelings less clear than they ought to be. Kot's persistence helps us follow Wiktor through those omissions, but it cannot supply everything the storytelling has chosen to leave out.

Cold War brought wider international attention, though Kot has continued in Polish features alongside limited international work. There is no reason to confine him to solemn men, given the comedy in his background. Start with Pawlikowski's romance, and give Kulig an equal share of the attention: Kot's performance needs her impatience.