Yeah, I watched this because I haven’t seen a movie in a while, and this one was on Netflix. Now, let me make something clear. I don’t have a problem with foreign films as a rule. I just don’t see a lot of them, I’m not a huge fan of Amour, and.. I’m not a huge fan of this.

Despite the film’s decent acting and directing, the film as a whole just does’t do it for me. And I think the main reason is that, much like Foxcatcher, the films story needed more dialogue to properly convey it. For anyone not terribly familiar with nuns and religion, the film just assumes you know everything and they don’t properly tell you everything you need to know. It took me halfway through the movie to figure out exactly what the main conflict was supposed to be. I don’t know what these characters stand for, and I really couldn’t care less.

So, after all of that, you might think that I outright hated this movie, and that I’m going to forget about it by tomorrow. And maybe that would have been a case. But, every so often you come across a ilm that does one element so well that it almost hurts the movie. And that is certainly the case with Ida.

This movie has some of the most beautiful cinematography I have ever seen. Period.

It cannot be understated how brilliant the cinematography is. First, it’s black and white. Okay. The aspect ratio is considerably more square than most movies. But on top of that, the angles, the lighting, the framing, the decision to leave so much empty space in a scene… It’s just mesmerizing to look at. Find an image from this film that’s not worthy of being on your wall, I dare you.

However, maybe it’s not such a good thing when you’re more interested in how the shot is framed than what your main character is supposed to be going through. I really don’t think this film is good enough to win an Oscar. I just don’t see it as that goo. It probably deserves a 2 or a 2 1/2 at most, but the cinematography is just so spectacular it forces me to give it 3 stars at least. If you want to see some really good black and white cinematography, check out Ida. It’s a shame the film didn’t have much else to offer.

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