Oct. 25, 2013|Poland|82 Min.|PG-13
Genre: Drama
Description: **Ida (2013) Movie Synopsis in English**
Set in the 1960s Polish People’s Republic, the story follows Anna, a young novice nun preparing to take her vows. Before doing so, her prioress instructs her to visit her only surviving relative, her aunt Wanda Gruz. Anna travels to Warsaw to meet Wanda, a chain-smoking, hard-drinking, and promiscuous judge. Wanda reveals that Anna’s real name is Ida Lebenstein and that her parents, who were Jewish, were murdered during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. As an orphan, Ida was raised by the convent. Wanda, a former Communist resistance fighter, became a state prosecutor known as “Red Wanda,” responsible for sending men to their deaths.
Wanda suggests that Ida experience worldly sins and pleasures before committing to her vows. During their journey, they pick up a hitchhiker named Lis, an alto saxophone player heading to a gig in the same town. Wanda encourages Ida to show interest in Lis and attend his performance. Initially resistant, Ida eventually watches the band perform late at night after the crowd has left. Lis is drawn to Ida and engages her in conversation before she returns to her aunt, who is passed out in their room.
Ida expresses her desire to visit her parents’ graves, but Wanda admits their burial site is unknown. Wanda takes Ida to their childhood home, now occupied by Feliks Skiba and his family. During the war, the Skibas had seized the property and hidden the Lebensteins from the Germans. The journey leads to profound questions about faith, identity, and the past.
Cast director: Paweł Pawlikowski
Cast actor: Agata Trzebuchowska, Agata Kulesza, Dawid Ogrodnik, Joanna Kulig, Adam Szyszkowski, Jerzy Trela, Artur Janusiak, Dorota Kuduk, Halina Skoczyńska, Natalia Lagiewczyk
Original name: Ida