Cannes: ‘Ida’ director plunges deeper into Polish history
CANNES, France — While the rest of the world, and the Academy Awards, were celebrating Pawel Pawlikowski’s film “Ida” as one of the best films of 2013, the quiet, black-and-white film was swept up into political debate back in Poland, Pawlikowski’s home country.
It still mystifies the filmmaker why Poland’s ruling right-wing party, which took power in late 2015, painted his film as “anti-Polish.” ”Ida” was about a young orphaned woman in the 1960s on the cusp of taking her vows to be a nun when she discovers her Jewish heritage and that her parents were murdered by a Polish peasant during World War II.
“Why did they get so heated up about ‘Ida’? It’s a black-and-white film. They turned it into a big campaign issue. It did help them win the election, unfortunately,” Pawlikowski said in an interview. “We’ll see what they come up with now.”
Pawlikowski premiered his much anticipated follow-up to “Ida,” ”Cold War,” at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was immediately hailed as a companion piece to “Ida” and a likely contender for Cannes’ top prize, the Palme d’Or. Like “Ida,” it’s gorgeously composed in black-and-white and a 4:3 “academy ratio.” Also like “Ida,” it depicts the ways an oppressive regime can warp and ruin the lives under it.