Ida (Polish, 2013)

The characterization of a starkly different Anna and her aunt Wanda is brilliant which is established when both of them react differently to a given situation. Sample when they go to the village & when they get apprehended by the police, the way both of them conduct themselves in terms of dialogue & body language is fantastic.

Agata Trzebuchowska who plays Anna/Ida, is a wonderful find. Her calm demeanor & poise, expressive & almost hypnotic eyes, her curiosity about normal life, the way she discovers herself while uncovering her tragic past have been fabulously written & performed with minimal dialogues. Agata Kulesza who plays the promiscuous Aunt Wanda Gruz provides the perfect foil to Anna. She moves effortlessly from opinionated brash behavior to superior intelligence through sarcasm to exhibiting true love for her niece.

The experienced Paweł Pawlikowski shines in his handling of the bleak drama set in 1960s Poland, the era of Communist rule and modernization which raises questions on faith, guilt and forgiveness. One instance where he scores is when the protagonist questions her lover about their future & proceeds to flippantly dismiss his idyllic answer.

The film is beautifully shot in black & white, in an unusual, box-like aspect ratio of 1.37:1. The characters depicted off-centre in the frame, long pauses, minimal movement indicate the camera-operator turned cinematographer Lukasz Zal’s affinity for the ‘Bresson-esque’ style. A special mention too to the poetic way he has filmed ‘smoke’ throughout the film.