Best 2014

At thistime, Ioffer a mere list, except for anote on “Ida.” I’ll return
to the list andannotate it once myfingersrecoverfrompremature
ribbon-tying andtree-dressing, aswell as the other “paralyzingjoys of
theseason” (to quote James Agee).

Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Ida” is by far the best movie of the year.“I’m not
emotionallyexcited by thepower ofcinema’stricks anymore,” Pawlikowski
has said, and, atfirst, the stillness and concentration ofhisimages (the
move isset in Communist Poland, in 1961) is startling; thenfascinating;
then awe-inducing. Ida (Agata Trzebuchowska), the young noviceordered by
her Mother Superior to investigate herpast before takingorders,has a
mysteriously blankoval face and wide-open eyes uponwhich thejoys and
miseries ofthe world play. Ida, as it turns out, is Jewish. Heraunt and
real-worldtutor, Wanda Gruz (Agata Kulesza),now aminorstate judge,
formerly abig-shot in the Communist regime,has been twicebetrayed—by the
slaughter of the Polish Jews, abetted by many Poles, and by thedevolution
of post-war Communistidealism into Stalinistfraud and oppression. The
film portrays the meeting ofinnocence and knowledge, of course, but so
muchmore aswell, and displays one ofthe mostexpressive uses of
black-and-whitecinematography in thehistory of themedium.

The others, inalphabeticalorder:

“American Sniper”

“A Most Violent Year”

“Birdman”

“Boyhood”

“Get On Up”

“Mr. Turner”

“National Gallery”

“Selma”

“Snowpiercer”