10 Breakthrough Performances From 2014's Rising Movie Stars

6. Agata Trzebuchowska - Ida

Some performances are noteworthy because of the manner in which the actor animates a character through overt verbalisation or exaggerated body language. The flipside of this is that of understatement and restraint, and it is at this end of the spectrum that Agata Trzebuchowska occupies for her role in Ida. After directing two low key independent movies in the UK, Pawe‚ Pawlikowski returned to his native Poland and filmed Ida, a work that sits completely outside his previous films and bears more than a passing resemblance to Ingmar Bergman during his phase of movies reflecting "God's silence". Telling of a nun who discovers from her aunt that she's actually Jewish and was hidden from the Nazis in a convent by her parents during the Second World War, Ida's exploration of faith, womanhood, identity and history is a masterclass in minimalist expression. Trzebuchowska has a face with the kind of power and beauty found in the great stars of old cinema - despite having seemingly little to do on screen, the subtle accumulative effect draws the viewer completely into her world, aided by some of the most striking black and white cinematography seen in some time.