Ida

Summary: Poland, 1962. Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska), an eighteen-year-old novitiate nun is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a dark family secret dating back to the years of the **** occupation.

Ida is the story of a young girl living in a convent who is about to take her vows to become a nun. But she needs to visit her only relative, her aunt, before devoting herself to life-long chastity and poverty. When she goes to visit her aunt, she realizes that her childhood story is much deeper and elaborate than what she has been told. Her one day visit to her aunt soon turns into a long journey to discover her past and to reconcile with it. Ida's mom is not alive anymore but Ida resembles her in appearance and acts, which makes Ida's aunt takes Ida's love into her heart immediately. In one scene they are looking at old family pictures. Her aunt is telling her that her Mom once made a fancy stained glass for the cows to make them happy. Next day when they go see the glass, she adds, “That's Roza, fancy stained glass next to cow **** That is in essence Ida's life (or at least how her aunt sees it). Ida is a precious marvel surrounded in a terrible world. Her heart is strong and big but preoccupy with religious dogmas that does not let her enjoy her life. Ida never been anywhere, but she knows more than everybody else about life. Her aunt is “tenacious” but Ida is the one who handles difficult situations and makes the tough decisions. Ida looks naive but she talks, decides and acts wisely and firmly. You may or may not agree with her (I totally disagree with her) nonetheless you cannot help but to approve her decisions. She does not talk much but when she does, she hunts you. One of the key dialogues in the movie is this one: Boy: Ever been to the seaside? Ida: I haven't been anywhere. Boy: Come along then... You'll listen to us play, we will walk on the beach. Ida: And then? Boy: Then we will buy a dog, get married, have children, get a house. Ida: And then? Boy: [long silence] She shakes your core values with her simple short questions (E.g. “And then?”). It seems she does not know anything about life–she is a nun after all who grow up in an isolated convent in a village and hasn't been anywhere else–but unlike everyone else, she knows what she wants to do with her life. Everyone else is just part of a herd following the shepherd blindly. She is the “fancy glass”, everyone else is the “cow ****”. Everyone in this movie is depicted as a human, no more, no less. They all have strengths and they all crumble from time to time. Even the darkest characters in the movie still have a white spot left on their slate. Ida's aunt is a well-known “tenacious” prosecutor but sometimes she is clueless and desperate. The farmer's son is devoid of emotions and empathy but he shows mercy to Ida. Ida is a nun but she seeks carnal pleasure. Director Pawel Pawlikowski does something in 82 minutes that others directors need 3 hours to do. His camera does not move much except in the last scene because in this scene Ida is the center of the universe, she is the one that is carrying the world. She is walking on a road, the camera is facing her. It does not show where she is going because Ida is confident about what is going to happen next, it vaguely shows where she has been. She does not turn to look back because for Ida the past belongs to the past. The cinematography in this movie is exceptional. Every single frame in the movie is shot so artfully that it has the potential to feature on a magazine cover. All the shots from the character faces, all the catch lights in their eyes, the composition and the light vindicate to a cinematographer with absolute mastery. One of my favorites scenes in the movies is a shot a of a man digging a grave. The lights, the shadows, the dirt texture, and his facial expression all are phenomenally captured in this shot. Ida is a must see movie for anyone who loves photography and cinematography, or for anyone who wants to contemplate on life and what we are supposed to do in it, or for anyone who wants to explore the angelic and evil capacities of humans.