In Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Ida”, the title character is a nun experiencing the outside world for the first time. She’s lived her entire life in solitude, innocent and naïve to her past or her culture. At just 82 minutes and in almost no time at all, watching “Ida” is like being released from your own protective bubble. Pawlikowski’s film is a shocking and powerful coming of age tale with the most picturesque visuals and a sly wit as part of a quiet, modest package. It’s one of the most surprising stories and cinematic achievements of the year.
Shot in the traditional Academy aspect ratio and in black and white, Pawlikowski channels early Dreyer for “Ida’s” impeccable look. His opening shot is an off-kilter framing of the title character that in a way places her at odds with the world, unsettled in the only home she knows. Inside this Polish convent, the conditions are poor, with chickens running around the grounds and the nuns painting and carrying a statue of Jesus as if it were a sacrificial lamb. During dinner the sisters eat soup as their spoons clink away in the room’s utter silence.
Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska) is on the verge of taking her vows, but the head nun tells her that she has an aunt living in the city, her only remaining family. Anna’s aunt is Wanda (Agata Kulesza), a hard-drinking, tough-nosed civil servant who upon seeing her niece immediately unleashes a bombshell: her name is really Ida, her parents are in fact dead, and she’s a Jew. Continue reading “Ida”