Ashes and Diamonds (1958)

During the German occupation noble, bourgeois and worker's partisan groups lived in peace with another. On the first day of freedom they start to fight each other. In these fights is weaved a most tender love story.

Director:

Andrzej Wajda

Writers:

Jerzy Andrzejewski (novel), Jerzy Andrzejewski (screenplay)

Stars:

Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzewska, Waclaw Zastrzezynski

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 (as Z. Czerwinska)
Wiktor Grotowicz	...	Franek Pawlicki (as W. Grotowicz)

Storyline

Maciek, a young Resistance fighter, is ordered to kill Szczuka, a Communist district leader, on the last day of World War II. Though killing has been easy for him in the past, Szczuka was a fellow soldier, and Maciek must decide whether to follow his orders.

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Plot Keywords:

resistance movement | 1940s | world war two | wrong person assassinated | warsaw poland | 

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Taglines:

Touched with the fire and rebellion of a new generation of Polish film makers

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

29 May 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ashes and Diamonds

Filming Locations:

Wroclaw, Dolnoslaskie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zespól Filmowy "Kadr"

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 95 min (original: 108')

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Wajda was particularly influenced by John Huston's noir classic The Asphalt Jungle (1950).

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Goofs

Glasses of vodka are set alight which burn for an unnaturally long length of time and with a bigger flame than expected, suggesting a purer fuel was used in the film, such as petrol. Moreover, when the final flame dies (c.41 minutes) no liquid remains in the glass. Only the alcohol content is flammable in any glass of spirit and a residue of water would be left behind with even the very strongest of Polish vodkas.

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Quotes

Krystyna: So often, are you as a blazing torch with flames/ of burning rags falling about you flaming, /you know not if flames bring freedom or death. /Consuming all that you must cherish /if ashes only will be left, and want Chaos and tempest...
Maciek Chelmicki: ...Or will the ashes hold the glory of a starlike diamond... /The Morning Star of everlasting triumph.

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Connections

Featured in A Letter to Elia (2010)

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Soundtracks

Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53
[Performed by orchestra for celebratory war's end banquet. Name of performers not listed.]

User Reviews

Surely the most mature of the trilogy

Surely the most mature of the trilogy; it's certainly the most elliptical and stylistically audacious. At the start, Cybulski is a laidback, coldly cynical assassin who lolls on his back in a field waiting to carry out his latest hit; suffering a crisis of confidence in light of his awakening love for a woman, he flirts with desertion before resigning himself to the demands of his position. His personal journey speaks eloquently to the national trauma, and he's just the most prominent in a complex collection of transition figures, caught on the official last night of the war, now looking forward but not yet able to escape the ravages of war and the attendant moral and psychological confusion, not yet free of potential victimhood (like the mayor's assistant who on learning of his boss' promotion drinks excessively in celebration of his own presumed advancement, but in his disruptive drunkenness kills off what future he had). The ending, intercutting a personal tragedy with the dancers doing the elegant polannaise in the streaming light of dawn, like disembodied Felliniesque figures, perfectly encapsulates the film's mix of toughness and allusiveness.