Cinema as contemplation

Medieval realism and spiritual silence in Ida (2013)

Datos Bibliográficos

ID22347941
AutoresSanjay Surin (0000-0001-9519-2348, Alliance University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2026
Volumen11
Número1
Páginas84-104
Fecha de publicación2026-01-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaChurch, Communication and Culture (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2375-3234 • E-ISSN: 2375-3242
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/23753234.2026.2642057
OpenAlexW7154607651
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas28

This article reinterprets Paweł Pawlikowski’s Ida (Citation2013) as a form of mediated religious communication rooted in the theological and cultural tradition of medieval realism. Drawing on the ideas of Aquinas, Anselm, and Pseudo-Dionysius, it suggests that the film embodies a contemplative mode where truth, goodness, and beauty are regarded as ontological realities rather than subjective ideas. Through silence, stillness, vertical framing, and temporal restraint, Ida conveys a Catholic cultural imaginary that operates beneath explicit doctrine, influencing perception, memory, and moral values. Its formal austerity echoes apophatic theology and monastic practices such as lectio divina, serving as a non-discursive form of Catholic values. By embedding Holocaust trauma within spaces of ritual silence and architectural simplicity, Ida presents memory not as a narrative endpoint but as a mediated act of endurance. The film depicts cinema as a cultural space where religious significance endures beyond institutions, showing how Catholic sensitivities persist through aesthetic and symbolic expressions in today’s post-secular culture

Movie theater · Realism · Silence · Ethics, Aesthetics, and Art · Historical, Literary, and Cultural Studies · Medieval Literature and History