Ida is a wonderful 2013 film, in Polish and in black and white, by the Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski. It’s a story set in the ’60s of a young novice about to take her vows. Before she does, the Mother Superior insists she leave the convent to visit her aunt. Though the convent knew of this aunt’s existence, for Ida, the novice, this is the first she hears of her.
She meets the aunt, and fairly quickly is told that her parents had been Jewish and been killed in post-war Poland. We learn that the Aunt had been an ardent Stalinist in her youth, had been a prosecutor during the Communist rule and sent at least several people to their deaths, and is now a judge in some minor court system.
They wind up spending several days together and they and we learn further detail about the historical events, what they each believe, and what they’re each about. We watch their relationship evolve and watch them face current decision points in each of their lives.
The acting is magnificent, understated and internal sometimes, and the photography is used wonderfully to enhance the mood and focus.
Well worth seeing.