Ida (2013)

In 1962 Poland, Anna (Trzebuchowska) is a young novice nun just weeks away from taking her vows.  She has never known life outside of the abbey and never met anyone in her family.  Prior to taking her vows, the Mother Superior (Halina Skodzynska) forces her to meet her aunt.  Her aunt is Wanda Gruz (Kulesza) a well-known Polish prosecutor, now judge, who works with the Stalinist regime.  Anna soon learns that her life is a lie, her real name is Ida Lebenstein and she is Jewish.  Her parents were killed during World War II, but somehow she survived and ended up at the abbey.

Ida wants to visit her parents grave, but no one knows where they are buried.  Wanda and Ida begin a road trip to her hometown to find answers.  Wanda is an alcoholic and smoker, and Ida has lived a sheltered life.  Can they find the answers about her past, so she can decide her future path?


This is a striking film.  Director Pawel Pawlikowski chose to film in black and white, and that decision is aided by the beautiful cinematography by Ryszard Lencewski and Lukasz Zal.  Every scene is meticulously placed to emphasize different aspects of the film.  That often means that the characters are only partially seen or are out of focus, to help illustrate the feeling of the scene.  The close-ups are very moving, and the characters are very expressive with minimal dialog.

Agata Kulesza is a star in Poland, and is excellent here.  According to IMDb, Pawlikowski was having trouble finding the right actress to play Ida, and asked his friends to photograph anyone that seemed like a fit for the character.  This is Agata Trzebuchowska's first film and first time acting, previously she was a student.  She is a natural, and hopefully will continue to act.

This film has already won many awards in Europe.  It received three awards from the Polish Film Academy, including Best Film of 2013.  It also won five awards from the European Film Academy.  All of this prestige helped it earn Poland's entry into the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 2015 Academy Awards.  The film is in Polish with English subtitles.

Ida (2013) 82 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements, some sexuality and smoking
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Starring: Agata Trzebuchowska as Ida Lebenstein
Agata Kulesza as Wanda Gruz
Dawid Ogrodnik as Lis
Adam Szyszkowski as Feliks Skiba
Jerzy Trela as Szymon Skiba
Joanna Kulig as Singer