Ida

Question 1

When was Ida made and released ?

Answer 1

2013

Question 2

Who is the director of Ida ?

Answer 2

Pawliowski

Question 3

Where is Ida made in ?

Answer 3

Poland

Question 4

How long is the film Ida ?

Answer 4

82 mins

Question 5

Context: where and when was it set ? And why ?

Answer 5

Set in Poland in 1962 ( the Poland of pawlikowski’s childhood)

Question 6

Context: what was going on before the narrative was set ?

Answer 6

17 years after ww2 and the holocaust. Poland at this stage, was a part of the USSR

Question 7

Context: what culture was Ida set in ?

Answer 7

In the growth of a liberal, western sophisticated culture

Question 8

Context: what was the conflict ?

Answer 8

Strong belief in Catholicism and conflict with the communist state and the church

Question 9

Context: why is the population poor and rural ?

Answer 9

A scared, sad society which suffered greatly under the nazis and the state retributions after the war had ended. Keen to escape its past

Question 10

Context: budget ? Actors?

Answer 10

It was a low budget film, with unknown actors and had polish backlash. It was a Oscar winner.

Question 11

Cinematography in Ida ?

Answer 11

Black and white adds to the severity of the films atmosphere.

4:3 aspect ratio suggests 60’s feel

Composition and framing creates a feeling of loss, sadness and isolation. It allows an unusual amount of negative space above the subject and the subjects often located in the two bottom quadrants.

Fixed camera and long takes

Question 12

Mise en scene in Ida ?

Answer 12

Positioning in the Frame, effect on characters squashed in the bottom corners shows the weight of the past

Iconography , the visual images or symbols used in a work of art

Key props, signifiers

Contrast in costume

Locations, wandas flat, rural locations, modern jazz club and forest

Question 13

Key personnel in Ida ?

Answer 13

Pawlikowski ( director and co- writer )

Lenczewski and Zak ( directors of cinematographers)

Question 14

The sound in Ida ?

Answer 14

Very little non diegetic sound, unconventional ( set for last scene)

Limited dialogue, important for narrative exposition, encourages active spectator ship
diegetic music, jazz and classical (reflects social context)
sound is amplified

Question 15

key dialogue in Ida?

Answer 15

“you’re a Jew” and “ i’m a slut, you’re a little saint”

Question 16

performance in Ida?

Answer 16

unknown actress in title role
different representations use of Wanda ( sad, broken, humorous)
binary opposites in characters

Question 17

editing in Ida?

Answer 17

lack of conventional continuity editing
long takes (encourage active spectator ship)
abrupt transitions
montage editing, meaning is suggested via a combination of shots

Question 18

key scenes in Ida?

Answer 18

in convent
first meeting 
jazz club 
forest scene 
suicide scene

Question 19

information on cinematographers in Ida?

Answer 19

lenczewski had a long and successful career in cinema

zal, ida was his first assignment as a cinematographer on a feature film, however pawlikowski was in control of the filming.

Question 20

pawlikowski key quote ?

Answer 20

” the film i was after would be made of strong, graphic images and sounds, it would work through suggestion rather than explanantion.

Question 21

the key aspects of cinematography in ida?

Answer 21

black and white
4:3 aspect ratio
composition and framing
fized camera/ long takes

Question 22

information on the 4:3 aspect ratio in ida?

Answer 22

pawlikowski wanted to use a different format for his film
he wanted to use 4:3 aspect ratio which is boxy and the shape of a 1960’s tv . this would aid his compositional ides and give the feel of early 1960’s polish films.

Question 23

reasons for aspect ratio in ida?

Answer 23

the framing created a feeling of loss, sadness and isolation
during close ups the audience feels the claustophobic containment which could be a metaphor for how ida is feeling in terms of faith
the framing of alot of the shots is very top heavy to add to the tension in the film. serves to answer an unasked question, where are ida’s parents?
people seemed to be absorbed into the background of shots, in either natural landscape or archtecture

Question 24

why are the long still camera shots used?

Answer 24

the effect is abit disconcerting on the audience
a static camera slows the pace and forces the audience to contemplate, think and feel.
for example, when wanda tells Ida she is a jew, the camera is fixed on ida for over 20 seconds , so the audience can experience the enormity of this information as it begins to register with ida.

Question 25

historical context in Ida?

Answer 25

set in 1962 poland
ida was set in this period of ‘communist liberalism’ and it is set in western poland which during the war was under nazi control.
this is shown through the film in the references to Jazz, influence of western culture.

Question 26

what are the explicit and implicit references to polish society and culture in Ida?

Answer 26

the string beleif in catholicism
the conflict between the state and the church
a poor, rural peasant popluation
growth of a liberal, western, sophisticated culture
a society keen to escape from its past
a fearful, sad society that suffered greatly under the Nazis and state retributions after the war had ended

Question 27

institutional context in Ida?

Answer 27

ida is a low budget independent film, 2 million euros
in terms of cost after release, ida was a box office success in the cinema earning over 11 million euros.
this was mainly due to the awards won by the film (BAFTA and Oscar)
it received criticism in it’s native Poland “ ida airbrushed the Germans from the story and blamed the ‘dirty polish peasant” and it only received an Oscar “because of its pro Jewish point of view”

Question 28

the sound in Ida?

Answer 28

its used in an unconventional and specific way throughout the film Ida
very little dialogue
this suggest that active spectator ship is present in the viewing of ida as the audience are encouraged to contemplate, think and make sense and judgement of the narrative.

Question 29

Dialogue in Ida ?

Answer 29

key scene: ida and wanda’s first meeting: “ they didn’t tell you who i am? and what i do? “( conflict of church and state)
“ you’re a jew… they never told you?” (reaction shot of Ida)
“they have no graves , not them or any other jews”
“ what if you go there and discover there is no god?”

Question 30

diegetic sound in ida ?

Answer 30

there are lots of examples of music which all comes from diegetic source :
the light ‘poppy’ music in Wanda’s flat
jazz from the hotels nigh club
mozart during the suicide scene
this is used by pawlikowski to build his characters and develop social context of the film
there is no non digetic sound in the film set for the final scene when she is on her journey back to the convent

Question 31

sound and its relationship with editing in Ida?

Answer 31

throughout the film diegetic sound is amplified and this is where it combines with editing.
abrupt editing, lacking continuity is used throughout and this has a dynamic effect on the audience ( cross cutting from the bar to Ida’s room)
abrubt sound serves to exsadderate the effect of the abrupt editing.
wanda in the bath then cuts to Mozart in the lounge (suicide scene)

Question 32

editing in Ida?

Answer 32

ida has unconventional editing
conventional continuity editing encourages passive spectatorship , as audiences are led through the narrative. pawlikowski goes against this practice for dramatic effect.
long still camera takes also slow the pace and invite active spectatorship.
long takes tend to use camera movement in combination with sound and mise en scene to direct the viewers attention toward important narrative elements.

Question 33

the choice in length of shot in Ida?

Answer 33

communicates something unique to the viewer.
the montage theory states that a shot communicates to the audience though it relationship with other shots next to it on the timeline (juxtapostion).

Question 34

the significance of casting and performance style in Ida?

Answer 34

pawlikowski was having trouble on finding an actress to play Ida. Agata was spotted by a friend of his in a cafe reading a book. she had no past acting experience or plans to pursue acting.

pawlikoowski wants the audience to ‘think’ like the characters, hence the limited dialogue.
eg , in the scene when Ida finds out she is a jew, the shot remains on the screen for a long time so the audience can take in this important news.

Question 35

why does Wanda choose to end her life?

Answer 35

she hates her life of drinking and meaningless sex.
she hates what she has become
she is lonely, as ida has left for the convent
the horror of the holocaust will not disappear.
she is sad and yearns for her dead family (son and sister)

Question 36

how is Wanda’s suicide scene powerfully orchestrated?

Answer 36

the camera lingers on her in bed and in the bath (close ups)
she seems to behave in a strange, no fuss ordinary way.
the static camera remains focused on the window foreshadowing the terrible event ( medium long shot).
Wanda comes and goes into the frame and then after putting her coat on (bare feet)’hops’out the window, a muffled sound of the contact onto the ground is heard. which makes the scene even more upsetting.

Question 37

Ida’s performance in Ida?

Answer 37

throughout the film Ida is either questioned about her faith or questions her faith herself.
ida ‘experiments’ in the last phases of the film , she changes her clothes, she drinks, smokes , dances and has sex.
she then continues to make her vows to the church.