Ester Ivakič’s debut feature, Ida Who Sang So Badly Even the Dead Rose Up and Joined Her in Song, might have a ten-year-old protagonist and coming of age as its primary topic, but its vibe is way darker than one would expect from a children’s film, which is a genre that has become very popular in Slovenian cinema after the success of Slobodan Maksimović’s Beanie [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] and Klemen Dvornik’s Block 5 [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film]. Its premiere in the main competition of FilmFestival Cottbus, rather than in the children’s and youth sidebar of another festival, confirms this notion.

When we meet Ida (played by newcomer Lana Marić), it might seem as though she lives an idyllic life. She is growing up in the countryside, has both of her parents, Ivana and Stanko (played by Judita Franković Brdar and Matej Puc), by her side, and has a strong connection with her grandmother (non-professional actress Milena Stropnik). They all seem well off, and they are about to build a new, bigger house.

But soon enough, the cracks start showing. Grandma is old and ailing; the parents both have their quirks and differences in character, so they are seldom on the same page; Ida is something of an outcast in her class, ruled by a sadistic teacher (Lara Maria Vouk); and her only friend and fellow outcast, Terezka (fellow newcomer Liza Muršič), is turning into a religious fanatic. Ida’s inner fantasy world can only protect her from this harsh environment (and after all, it is socialist Slovenia, then part of Yugoslavia, in the 1970s) for a little while, and even in that inner world, she has a mission to accomplish: believing that her angelic singing can save her beloved grandmother from death, she decides to join the school choir. The trouble is that Ida is tone-deaf…

The plot is meandering and slow-moving, while some of the subplots seem simply tacked on to the main story, which can get a bit frustrating over the running time of close to 110 minutes. This is to be expected from a film that is an adaptation of several short stories from Suzana Tratnik’s collection Neither Voice, and Ivakič and her co-writer Nika Jurman at least try to intertwine them into a single narrative.

However, Ida Who Sang So Badly… is clearly less about the plot than it is about the atmosphere. This is discernible from the polished cinematography abounding in dreamy landscapes by Rok Kajzer Nagode and the soft editing with regular cross-fades by Andrej Nagode. The score by Alenja Pivko Kneževič and Simon Penšek, and the suggestive sound design by Samo Jurca serve the same purpose. The same can also be said of Lana Marić’s performance, as the child actress nails the metaphorical absence of her character, while the supporting performances by Judita Franković Brdar, Matej Puc and Petja Labović serve as a reliable anchor for the lead actress and for the movie itself.

It seems that Ester Ivakič wanted to create a mood piece with her debut, something that would show off her considerable talent, and she has succeeded in her ambitions up to a point, as Ida Who Sang So Badly… is a moody, gloomy coming-of-age movie that displays a great deal of skill. It might open with “Once upon a time,” but it would be naive of us to expect it to end with “And they lived happily ever after,” since there is nothing that can prepare us for impending loss and nothing that can prevent it.

Ida Who Sang So Badly… is a Slovenian production by Temporama, in co-production with Gustav film, RTV Slovenia and Film Factory, in association with Croatia’s Dinaridi Film.