I am amazed how similar are movies from Poland and Russia that were nominated for an Oscar this year. And how similar are the reactions of the politicians. Ida and Leviathan tell two completely different stories. They have different aesthetics, the actors speak different languages about completely different things. Yet the movies are extremely similar: they both touch topics which are painful and controversial. Leviathan is the ghost of Russian present: it talks about hopelessness of provincial life in Putins Russia. Ida is the ghost of Polish past – talks about the complexity of the post-war life and, indirectly, about the Polish antisemitism. Both movies strongly criticise the place of the church in both countries and therefore, are highly politicised. And both caused equally panicky reaction of politicians. The Russian Minister of Culture must have shat himself when he saw what his ministry had sponsored. The actors and the director are being criticised, the movie is still not in the cinemas. In Poland, the far-right demands to remake the whole beginning on the movie so that it aligns with the official version of history. In both Russia and Poland the perspective of a movie that talks about our weaknesses getting an Academy Award caused panic and dread. Last but not least: I saw both movies. Evaluated simply as movies, Ida gets from me a 6,5 and Leviathan a 7 (out of 10 points possible). But the reaction of politicians shows that both movies were extremely important and necessary. Now, lets see who gets the Oscar :-)
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:31:21 +0000
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