Ida
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Cast: Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska, Dawid Ogrodnik, Jerzy Trela, Adam Szyszkowski, Halina Skoczynska
Rating: (M)
4 stars (out of 5)
There are some movies where all you have to do is wander in off the street, buy your ticket, sit down and let it wash over you.
With other movies it is pointless unless you have a background knowledge. Ida (Rialto) is such a film.
Set in 1962 Poland it assumes you know how dire things were during and after WW2 and never stops to spell anything out.
Which makes it sound as if things move at a brisk pace, but that's definitely not the case.
This is a black-and-white art film where what is not said is often more important than what is said. For many it will be agony, but for others its chilly storytelling will be beautifully depressing.
Novice nun Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska) is a war orphan who has spent her entire life in the convent. She is content, but Mother Superior (Halina Skoczynska) sends her to meet her only relation, an aunt, just to be sure.
Wanda (Agata Kulesza) is nothing like Anna and she bluntly tells her that her name is really Ida Lebenstein and she is Jewish.
Anna naively asks where her parents are buried so she can pray over them, but Wanda replies that no one knows for sure what happened to them during the war.
The unlikely duo then travel to Anna's home village to ask around and see if anyone will tell them anything.
They manage to uncover the truth, but does knowing the specifics really help them?
Best thing: Agata Kulesza as the disillusioned Aunt Wanda is unexpectedly heartbreaking.
Worst thing: Anna's search for her past is strong but making her a nun and then giving her a romantic interest is just a little trite.
See it with: An understanding that WW2 had a nasty habit of tainting everyone.
