Tracker Pixel for Entry

​Innocence and experience: “Ida”

Cinema | December 5th, 2014

Warsaw-born, UK-based Pawel Pawlikowski delivers one of the year’s most rewarding cinematic experiences in “Ida,” a stark, monochromatic treasure set in Poland in 1962. Quiet, introspective and deliberate on the outside, the movie’s interior life is by contrast filled with the most tumultuous emotional upheaval imaginable. Raised by nuns and now on the verge of becoming one herself, Anna is instructed by her mother superior to seek out the aunt she never knew she had. Reluctant but obedient, the young woman meets Wanda, a weary judge who numbs her own sorrow with alcohol and one-night stands. The novice’s earnest piety is tested by Wanda’s flinty pragmatism, especially when Wanda reveals that “Anna” is really Ida, a Jew whose parents were killed during World War II.

Aunt and niece begin a journey of discovery to find out the details of the fate of Ida’s parents, traveling by car through bleak landscapes en route to knowledge that might bring as much pain as peace. As Ida, newcomer Agata Trzebuchowska is, in her own way, every bit as mesmerizing as Emily Blunt’s enigmatic Tamsin in Pawlikowski’s excellent “My Summer of Love.” Trzebuchowska’s performance is perfectly complemented by the work of Agata Kulesza as Wanda, and both actors communicate the steadily developing respect that each character reluctantly earns from the other.

Pawlikowski’s unusual road movie functions on several planes, from the horror of the Holocaust and the political fallout of Poland’s post-Stalin era to the pragmatic debate between the tangible pleasures of the material world and the unknown territory of life everlasting. Identity, particularly in terms of the revelation that the main character is not the Catholic Anna but instead the Jewish Ida, is paramount. In Ida and Wanda, the oddest of couples, the differences are starkly outlined. One believes and the other does not. One is a virgin and the other demonstrates a worldly sexual appetite. One has grown up in ignorance of the grim events that stole her family while the other has lived with that knowledge every day for nearly two decades.

Shot in the squarish 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio of bygone cinema by photographers Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski, “Ida” is filled with meticulous compositions that command attention. Pawlikowski frequently places characters low in the frame, exaggerating headroom to include the ceilings of many interior spaces visited by Ida and Wanda (so much so that, as noted by Catherine Wheatley, the subtitles often become surtitles so as not to interfere with the visuals). Both indoors and outdoors, Pawlikowski relishes opportunities for vivid internal framings and sharp contrasts between foreground and background objects.

An accomplished storyteller, Pawlikowski dispatches more information through Bressonian silences and long static takes than he does via lengthy exchanges of dialogue. In one enticing subplot, Ida and Wanda pick up jazz saxophonist Lis (Dawid Ogrodnik) on his way to a gig, and the young people are noticeably attracted to one another — much to the delight and amusement of Wanda. Lis later performs John Coltrane’s “Naima,” and for a few delicate scenes, Pawlikowski turns from the somber realism inspired by the Polish Film School to pay homage to the spirit of the influential films of the Czech New Wave, letting tiny rays of light shine in through the darkness.

“Ida” is now available on demand.

Recently in:

By Maddie Robinson  maddierobi.mr@gmail.comIn order to get affordable child care for her son, Paulina Erbele has to drive from her work in Gackle,…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comphoto by Logan MacraeAnyone who lives in the Fargo-Moorhead area knows that its yearly weather is a sequence of…

Every day in December 2023, 12 noon to 3pmMille Lacs Lake, Garrison Township, Minn.All fish must be caught by hook and line. No spears will be allowed. All fish entered must be brought to the judges stand immediately and be alive.…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comRemember the legacy of the NPL.Last Saturday I had the opportunity to attend the annual meeting and dinner hosted by the Dakota Resource Council in Bismarck. I came in feeling a little defeated,…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comHow Many of Napoleon’s Hats Will Save Planet Earth for Homo Sapiens?Before I get into this week’s subject of why we need to double the number of college majors in English and Humanities if we…

We are looking for 55-gallon plastic food grade barrels, do you have ideas or connections?We use these barrels to teach our resilient yard workshop series including Make Your Own Rain Barrel and Make Your Own Compost Tumbler. If…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.comThe temperatures have dropped and so have the leaves in the Upper Midwest. That means it's now the holiday season. Part of the joy of this special season for me is eating. But first things first.…

Dropkick Murphys Put Music to the Words of Woody GuthrieBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comPhoto by Dave StaubleWith the release of 2022’s “This Machine Still Kills Fascists” and 2023’s “Okemah Rising.” The Dropkick…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com“Saltburn,” the highly anticipated follow-up to “Promising Young Woman” – which earned Oscar gold for Best Original Screenplay – doesn’t quite equal the bite and sting of…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comA trio of Burleigh County artists are making their mark in Wing, North Dakota, to promote local foods and are quite literally painting the town, or at least the newly acquired Wing City Government…

By Eric Dallmanericd@hpr1.comWe recently watched “The PROM” at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, and it was an experience that left a lasting impact on us. The story, a heartwarming yet familiar one, follows a group of Broadway stars…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…

JANUARY 19, 1967– MARCH 8, 2023 Brittney Leigh Goodman, 56, of Fargo, N.D., passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 8, 2023. Brittney was born January 19, 1967, to Ruth Wilson Pollock and Donald Ray Goodman, in Hardinsburg,…

By Faye Seidlerfayeseidler@gmail.com On the first day of the month I ask people to thank a journalist they know or someone who contributes to papers in some meaningful way. When I grew up, my best friend's father was a journalist…