IDA (2014) A

Foreign, Subtitles

(Not yet reviewed by Warren W)

What makes this such a powerful movie is its minimal dialog shot in black and white that forces the viewer to really focus on what the character may or may not be thinking. It is the story of two related women, both born Jewish but neither one is practicing or even knowledgeable about Judaism, who are confronted to sum up their life and their future as they research the past. The amazing issue is that it is a Polish movie focusing on the blind  indoctrination of the Catholic church which has always been a puzzlement to me, a Jew having been taught to question everything. Even the sisters' meals are in dead silence, a powerful picture. I am sure you will enjoy it. Review by Harold Oertell

Excerpt from Rotten Tomatoes:  IDA is a moving and intimate drama about a young novitiate nun in 1960s Poland who, on the verge of taking her vows, discovers a dark family secret dating from the terrible years of the Nazi occupation. 18-year old Anna, a sheltered orphan raised in a convent, is preparing to become a nun when the Mother Superior insists she first visit her sole living relative. Naïve, innocent Anna soon finds herself in the presence of her aunt Wanda a worldly and cynical Communist Party insider, who shocks her with the declaration that her real name is Ida and her Jewish parents were murdered during the Nazi occupation. This revelation triggers a heart-wrenching journey into the countryside, to the family house and into the secrets of the repressed past, evoking the haunting legacy of the Holocaust and the realities of postwar Communism.

Powerfully written and eloquently shot, IDA is a masterly evocation of a time, a dilemma, and a defining historical moment; IDA is also personal, intimate, and human. The weight of history is everywhere, but the scale falls within the scope of a young woman learning about the secrets of her own past. This intersection of the personal with momentous historic events makes for what is surely one of the most powerful and affecting films of the year.