Ida
It haunted me as much as anything I saw in the past 12 months, and I can’t wait to see it again.
Ida
From acclaimed director Pawel Pawlikowski (Last Resort, My Summer of Love) comes IDA, a moving and intimate drama about a young novitiate nun in 1960s Poland who, on the verge of taking her vows, discovers a dark family secret dating from the terrible years of the Nazi occupation.
Eighteen-year-old Anna (stunning newcomer Agata Trzebuchowska), a sheltered orphan raised in a convent, is preparing to become a nun when the Mother Superior insists she first visit her sole living relative. Naïve, innocent Anna soon finds herself in the presence of her aunt Wanda (Agata Kulesza), a worldly and cynical Communist Party insider, who shocks her with the declaration that her real name is Ida and her Jewish parents were murdered during the Nazi occupation. This revelation triggers a heart-wrenching journey into the countryside, to the family house and into the secrets of the repressed past, evoking the haunting legacy of the Holocaust and the realities of postwar Communism.
In this beautifully directed film, Pawlikowski returns to his native Poland for the first time in his career to confront some of the more contentious issues in the history of his birthplace. Powerfully written and eloquently shot, IDA is a masterly evocation of a time, a dilemma, and a defining historical moment; IDA is also personal, intimate, and human. The weight of history is everywhere, but the scale falls within the scope of a young woman learning about the secrets of her own past. This intersection of the personal with momentous historic events makes for what is surely one of the most powerful and affecting films of the year.
"It haunted me. I can't wait to see it again." - A.O. Scott, The New York Times
"A compact gem of perfection. A total marvel." - Dana Stevens, Slate
The Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film.
Eighteen-year-old Anna (stunning newcomer Agata Trzebuchowska), a sheltered orphan raised in a convent, is preparing to become a nun when the Mother Superior insists she first visit her sole living relative. Naïve, innocent Anna soon finds herself in the presence of her aunt Wanda (Agata Kulesza), a worldly and cynical Communist Party insider, who shocks her with the declaration that her real name is Ida and her Jewish parents were murdered during the Nazi occupation. This revelation triggers a heart-wrenching journey into the countryside, to the family house and into the secrets of the repressed past, evoking the haunting legacy of the Holocaust and the realities of postwar Communism.
In this beautifully directed film, Pawlikowski returns to his native Poland for the first time in his career to confront some of the more contentious issues in the history of his birthplace. Powerfully written and eloquently shot, IDA is a masterly evocation of a time, a dilemma, and a defining historical moment; IDA is also personal, intimate, and human. The weight of history is everywhere, but the scale falls within the scope of a young woman learning about the secrets of her own past. This intersection of the personal with momentous historic events makes for what is surely one of the most powerful and affecting films of the year.
"It haunted me. I can't wait to see it again." - A.O. Scott, The New York Times
"A compact gem of perfection. A total marvel." - Dana Stevens, Slate
The Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film.
Genre
Drama
Runtime
80
Language
Polish
Director
Pawel Pawlikowski
Cast
Agata Kulesza,
Agata Trzebuchowska,
Dawid Ogrodnik,
Jerzy Trela,
Adam Szyszkowski,
Halina Skoczynska,
Joanna Kulig,
Dorota Kuduk,
Afrodyta Weselak
Awards:
Winner, International Critics' Award (FIPRESCI), Toronto International Film Festival
Winner, Best Foreign Language Film, Academy Awards
FEATURED REVIEW
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski (My Summer of Love), this story of faith and despair is gracefully told, its simple, uncluttered spaces and luminous black-and-white photography harking back to Robert Bresson. Innocent young Ida (Agata Trzebuchowska), raised in a Polish convent and preparing to take ...
Played at
Royal 5.02.14 - 7.17.14
Playhouse 7 5.09.14 - 7.13.14
Town Center 5 5.09.14 - 6.15.14
Lumiere Music Hall 6.20.14 - 7.03.14
Claremont 5 6.27.14 - 7.13.14
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