Sunday 10 November 2013

Sorrow and Bleakness, The Good Kind

It is getting colder and greyer, and maybe a black-and-white film about a young nun in 1960's Poland isn't what you feel like to take the edge off. You might want to make an exception for "Ida".

This week, on a particularly dreary day, I went to see the latest film by Paweł Pawlikowski. It is essentially a journey: Through urban and rural landscapes, into a family's past, right down to the deeper, darker corners of the soul.


Slow and subtle, the film feels like one astonishing cliché-free improvisation. I cried unscripted crocodile tears at the least dramatic moment, and recounted the plot scene-for-scene upon coming home.


Which is why the juries at the London, Warsaw and Toronto Film Festivals were right to shower the film with prizes. If you're in for some beautiful sorrow, "Ida" will deliver the fix. 


"Ida" trailer in English

No comments:

Post a Comment