Movie Review "Ida"

This Polish black and white movie is about Anna, a young Polish girl who is on the verge of taking her final vows to be a Roman Catholic nun in 1962 Poland. Her Mother Superior informs her that she has one surviving relative- an aunt who is a ranking member of the Polish communist party. Her aunt is a hard living, hard drinking middle aged childless Jewess. Anna discovers that almost everyone, save the aunt, were murdered during the war. The remainder of the movie involves the search for what really happened to her family and the direction of her life. The cinematography is unusual. Besides being black and white, the format is actually “tall screen” rather than the usual wide screen. All lines are subtitled, but sparse. The plot and filmography stands almost alone without dialog. One of the better films of the season.