Popiól i diament (1958)

Director:

Andrzej Wajda

Writers:

Jerzy Andrzejewski (novel)
Jerzy Andrzejewski (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 May 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Maciek, a young Resistance fighter, is ordered to kill Szczuka, a Communist district leader, on the last day of World War II...

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Killing | Resistance Fighter | Communist | Communist Party

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win

Cast

Zbigniew Cybulski	...	Maciek Chelmicki
Ewa Krzyzewska	...	Krystyna
Waclaw Zastrzezynski	...	Szczuka
Adam Pawlikowski	...	Andrzej
Bogumil Kobiela	...	Drewnowski
Jan Ciecierski	...	Portier
Stanislaw Milski	...	Pieniazek
Artur Mlodnicki	...	Kotowicz
Halina Kwiatkowska	...	Staniewiczowa
Ignacy Machowski	...	Waga
Zbigniew Skowronski	...	Slomka
Barbara Krafftówna	...	Stefka (as Barbara Kraftówna)
Aleksander Sewruk	...	Swiecki
Zofia Czerwinska	...	Barmaid Lili
Wiktor Grotowicz	...	Franek Pawlicki (as W. Grotowicz)

Also Known As:

Ashes and Diamonds (USA)
Popiół i diament (Poland)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Zespól Filmowy "Kadr"

Trivia:

Because of the film's nihilistic tone, the Polish authorities were not keen on it being exhibited outside of the country. Until a low-level official had a print shipped out to the Venice Film Festival where it played to great acclaim.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Maciek is running away from Drewnowski and then the Russian soldiers, a train above them passes by. In one shot it is going to the left of the screen. Then in the next shot it is going to the right, then to the left again.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Zbyszek (1969)

Electric

I've seen this movie only twice, stumbling across it the first time in a theater in Skopje, Yugoslavia, and I left the theater almost in shock. I'd never seen such a combination of direction, editing, cinematography, and acting. (That business about Cybulski being "the Polish James Dean" is disregardable nonsense; like saying that Chopin was the Polish John Phillip Souza.) Wajda's other films didn't seem so impressive, but "Ashes and Diamonds" was simply superb. The images linger in the mind, even now, when artiness has become commonplace. The shattered crucifix hanging upside down; the final chase through the drying laundry; and Cybulski on his side, kicking himself around in circles atop a heap of garbage! It wasn't simply thought provoking, it was shocking. I can only remember one other time I felt stunned into silence on leaving a theater, and that was in LA after the first Bergman film I saw, which happened to be "The Seventh Seal." Don't miss it.