If Why Don't You Play In Hell? is world cinema's answer to Quentin Tarantino then Pavel Pawilowski's Ida is a throwback to the cinematic legends of old - a stately, sparse yet beautiful film which recalls the spiritual obsessions of Carl Theodor Dreyer and Ingmar Bergman. Before she is allowed to take her vows a young novice nun is instructed to visit her family. Traversing the post-World War 2 Polish landscape with her lawyer aunt, Ida discovers that she is in fact Jewish, and was hidden away in the priory by her parents to avoid being killed by the Nazis. Ida sets out to discover their final resting place, uncovering a society riven by dark secrets they'd rather not uncover. Shot in black and white and featuring some truly original and unusual compositions which set the characters against incredible backdrops, Ida is a low key yet ultimately very moving film which explores both personal and cultural identity. One of 2014's greatest movies and a hot contender for next year's Best Foreign Language Movie at the Academy Awards.
