If you are an Ingmar Bergman fan, you will probably enjoy Ida.
Filmed in black and white, Director/co-writer Pawel Pawlikowski has crafted a film that works on many levels. The photography is terrific, the acting first rate, and the plot is unique as well as emotionally compelling.
This film takes place in 1962 Poland. Anna (Agata T.) is an 18 year old orphan who was raised in a convent. She is about to take her vows but the Mother Superior insists that she visit her one known living relative, her mother’s sister Aunt Wanda (Agata K.) before her vows are spoken.
Aunt Wanda’s life is the polar opposite of Anna’s ascetic existence in the convent. Wanda spends her time smoking, getting drunk, and having one night stands.
Wanda tells Anna the shocking news that her birth name is Ida, that she is Jewish, and that her parents died in WW II!
Wanda and Anna then take a trip to the village where her parents lived to see if they can find out where they were buried and how they died.
Writing more about the plot will spoil the movie but you won’t be disappointed. The film only lasts about 80 minutes so despite it’s leisurely pace it doesn’t seem long.
Rating-8.0- top 20 movie worth a trip to the BS.
Dave
