The World's End: A Poetic Meditation

Glory to the crude!

All praise to the crass!

The very gentle capers

When passed through our nature

Becomes crap!

Sans humus we are not human.

May the lowly be raised!

Omnipotence to chaos!

The Boxtrolls: A Poetic Meditation

"My fear is greater than your fear

for to support my terror I

have automatic ammunition

at such speeds that cannot be seen.

I have clubs and armors.

I have motors and missiles and mortars.

What have you?

Barely a toothpick to poke me with?

Your fear is but a paltry thing--

mine is the greater concern

that you must acquiesce to

as I crush you beneath my boot.

I must control and destroy your little life

for you inconvenience my comfort."

The Beauty of Ida

Some of the themes have been explored before: a young woman discovering herself (e.g. Blue is the Warmest Color), guilt and revelation about the Holocaust (e.g. Dekalog 8), a woman forced to seek herself before entering a convent (Viridiana). But never have these themes been executed with such beauty and composition.  Every scene is expertly posed, I would want a still from every one on my wall. 

Ida herself is almost a still-- completely passive, doing as other's recommend and command.  She is quiet, meek and serene, even in the face of startling revelations and great life moments.  Until the very last scene where she is striding, almost running, toward the only decision we see her make: how she will spend her life.  In a way that stands against modern sensibilities, this is a film about independence in its freest sense.