{"id":1568,"date":"2015-04-24T16:51:53","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T20:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=1568"},"modified":"2025-05-03T12:22:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T16:22:42","slug":"ida-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=1568","title":{"rendered":"Ida-2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ida-2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Pawel Pawlikowsi<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #238<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"70293721\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed April 24, 2015<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ida (2014), the winner of several Best Foreign Language statuettes, including the first-ever Best Foreign Language Oscar for Poland, is a black and white film, containing beautiful cinematography. It offers a fascinating story that is both moving, sad, and very character-driven and centers around not one, but two compelling characters.<\/p>\n

The ravages and after-effects of war have been explored in film before, but Ida brings a fresh spin to the subject matter.<\/p>\n

The film takes place sometime in the 1960s, years after the cruelties of World War II and the brutality of the holocaust occurred, and explores the long-lasting pain and sadness that the incredible time in history left on the survivors, both mentally and physically.<\/p>\n

The focus is on Anna (Agata Kulesza), a young nun about to take her coveted vows and begin a life serving the Lord. Quite beautiful, she was left as a toddler at a convent. Before she takes her vows she is instructed to spend time with her only known relative, Aunt Wanda (Agata Trzebuchowska).<\/p>\n

Wanda is a former judge who battles depression and alcoholism. Her brother, Anna\u2019s father, was murdered along with Wanda\u2019s young son, so she is a tortured soul. As Anna (real name Ida and Jewish) and Wanda begin a road trip to find the whereabouts of their deceased family\u2019s bodies, they both face personal demons.<\/p>\n

What struck me most about Ida is the cinematography- the black and white is lovely, especially when Ida and Wanda travel across the Polish countryside, exquisite to look at.<\/p>\n

The farms, land, and roads are so crisp and perfectly lit that it is easy to fall in love with them.<\/p>\n

Many scenes resemble paintings giving the film an artistic quality. Ida is simply elegant and peaceful in style.<\/p>\n

The story itself of Ida is wonderful. Ida- the title character nun is torn. She knows no other life than the church that saved her life. But she is a gorgeous young woman filled with desires. She sees her promiscuous aunt flaunt men and dress to the nines in flashy outfits and makeup.<\/p>\n

Ida, almost always dressed in her nun’s garb, secretly dresses in Wanda\u2019s dresses and makeup and is transformed. When she meets a handsome saxophone player, her desires begin to brim over and her conflict increases especially as the truth about her heritage unfolds.<\/p>\n

As interesting a character study as Ida is, the character of Wanda is equally, if not more so, interesting. Damaged, hurt, and depressed she needs men to feel good about herself.<\/p>\n

An alcoholic she has not gotten over the death of her young son and has become a bitter woman. Ida is about loss.<\/p>\n

Visually and creatively enticing, Ida is as good as they get. It deserves the many awards that were bestowed upon it.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-<\/strong>Best Foreign Language Film (won)<\/strong>, Best Cinematography<\/p>\n

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-<\/strong>Best International Film (won)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ida-2014 Director Pawel Pawlikowsi Starring Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska Scott’s Review #238 Reviewed April 24, 2015 Grade: A Ida (2014), the winner of several Best Foreign Language statuettes, including the first-ever Best Foreign Language Oscar for Poland, is a black and white film, containing beautiful cinematography. It offers a fascinating story that is both moving, … Continue reading Ida-2014<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4671,4670,350,192,35,213,6803,4672,3770],"tags":[78,4674,4673,351,193,67,214,6805,4675,3774],"class_list":["post-1568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2014-films","category-agata-kulesza","category-agata-trzebuchowska","category-best-foreign-language-picture-winners","category-dramas","category-foreignfilms","category-foreign-dramas","category-joanna-kulig","category-pawel-pawlikowski","category-polish","tag-2014-movie-reviews","tag-agata-kulesza","tag-agata-trzebuchowska","tag-best-foreign-language-picture-winners","tag-dramas-2","tag-foreign-language-films","tag-foreign-dramas","tag-joanna-kulig","tag-pawel-pawlikowski","tag-polish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1568"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20263,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1568\/revisions\/20263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}