Ida
Every year, I am always very interested in the Foreign Oscar. Considering how much crap populates the Academy Award every year, the foreign one boasts some really good titles (“Departures”, “The Lives of Others”, “No Man’s Land”, “La strada”, “8 1/2”, “Derzu Uzala”, “Fanny and Alexander”, “Life is Beautiful”, “All about my mother”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) so every year I am most interested about this category than any other one. Of course not all of them are great and some of them I will never watch (“Nowhere in Africa” uh), but my expectations are typically pretty high, just as they were for “Ida”.
Since “Leviathan” got the Golden Globe for this category, it was also the favorite for the Oscar. Well, did “Ida” deserve to win? Now that I have seen both films I think the two films are simply not comparable whatsoever. No two films could be any more different – they are both stylish in their own way, and they tell a story of humanity but about completely different topics. “Ida” looks at the past and how it affects us, “Leviathan” is (amongst others) a commentary about how the future of our society is in danger. In that respect, I am glad that both films got one award each.
Ironically, I will also say this about “Leviathan”: “Ida” was hauntingly beautiful. Every black and white shot looked meticulously composed, and its contemplative slow pacing struck a chord with me. Ida’s identity crisis is one which I can strongly identify with, even if mine is not the result of a horrifying past. Unlike “Leviathan”, the story in “Ida” is very simple and we spend more time focusing on Ida’s face and what she does than what actually happens to her. Even though she mostly goes along with her aunt and we don’t get to see her do a lot, she feels like an active character because of how the happenings in the story affect her later actions. I could strongly sympathize with Wanda, her sloppy lifestyle and her inner struggles as well, and she had quite a few great lines which believably made an impact on Ida.
I should watch “My Summer of Love” – I have been wanting to do that forever, and I have a certain affinity for Emily Blunt.