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Ida

SBS on Demand is streaming some quality films these days. I chose Ida for the next in our pod connections, mainly because it had a roundly positive critical consensus behind it. And I don't mind the director, Pawel Pawlikowski, either. So, without spoilers, here follows a few words about it.

Ida runs about 80 minutes and it gets as much in as possible while still being slightly ponderous and vague. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Pawlikowski has a lot to say about guilt, secrets and choice but his canvas is so sparse, his style so pared back that it's a wonder anything gets through. But it does, just. The title character is a young nun, about to do her vows in early 1960s Poland. Before this, she must visit her only surviving relative, her aunt Wanda. It's here she learns a secret about her past, which I'll leave for the viewer to discover.

The two leads are fine, especially Agata Kulesza as Wanda. At various points in the films, she's fierce, miserable, distraught and fun. Ida is played by a newcomer, Agata Trzebuchowska, and she says a fair bit without actually saying much. In saying that, I felt she over-played the underplaying a bit, if that makes sense.

One final thing to note - this film suffers from a kind of pretentiousness that afflicts many films of an 'arthouse' bent. That being the purposeful 'inability' to frame the subjects. There were a couple of occasions where a character's lower face was obscured or someone was half out of frame. This may be a budget issue but I reckon it's more likely a creative choice. While I don't mind this too much, it can get a bit annoying. It almost hints at apathy.

So, Ida. Worth a look, doesn't overstay its welcome and has a bit to say about post-war Polish society. But it says it in a whisper.

See also:

Another Pawlikowski film on a similar theme, Cold War (2018) and, sticking with Polish directors, one of the best, Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colours: White (1994).

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