AJFF Review: "Ida" (***½)

Agata Trzebuchowska stars as Ida in "Ida"

The 2014 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival has drawn to a close, but the films it featured press on. Enter “Ida,” director Pawel Pawlikowski’s career's first foray into his native Poland. Filmed in a black-and-white square aspect ratio, Pawlikowski’s screenplay is nearly upstaged by Lukasz Zal's and Ryszard Lenczewski's striking visual direction, which is beautifully upstaged by newcomer Agata Trzebuchowska. At first she plays Anna—a young soon-to-be nun encouraged by the Mother to become acquainted with her only living relative, Aunt Wanda (Agata Kulesza).

Wanda wastes no time imparting life-changing truth: Anna is not Anna at all. Her name is Ida. And Ida is not Catholic, but Jewish. Her parents were murdered during WWII. Ida has questions, but Wanda doesn’t have all the answers. The two take a trip across Poland on a search for the rest. What they find pulls not only Ida’s but Wanda’s identity into question, and the results threaten to be more than either can handle.

Atlanta review bundle: "The Woman in the Fifth" (***1/2), "A Little Bit Zombie" (***1/2), "Ok, Good" (****)

Kristin Scott Thomas and Ethan Hawke star in "The Woman in the Fifth"

"The Woman in the Fifth" is Pawel Pawlikowski's first film in seven years and marks no departure from the Polish filmmaker's steady, romantic aesthetic. The film possesses a particularly high density, especially due to such strong performances from Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott Thomas. It fails, however, to really engage the viewer past the feeling of general intrigue. Pawlikowski's firm grip on the wheel, embellished with harmonizing technical aspects, keeps you interested, but not interested enough. The best scenes, which feature Hawke at his 'job' in an underground room, are filled with more suspense and dread than most entire horror films contain. Looking back on the film, it has to be noted that few films set in Paris showcase so little of the City of Light. Most of the film takes place in dimly lit rooms, windowless basements or dirty hotels. Did Hawke's character ever truly leave the mental hospital from which he was supposedly released? 3.5 out of 5 stars.

"A Little Bit Zombie" and "Ok, Good" after the jump.