I first discovered the enormity of the atrocities perpetrated by the Soviets in Poland through the non-fiction book The Captive Mind, by Polish author Czeslaw Milosz. One of the things that stuck with me was that the Polish resistance members who fought the Nazis were not seen as heroes by the Soviets, because those Poles were defending the old bourgeois order. So the old militaries and intelligentsia had to be killed to pave the way for a new state that upheld the values of the revolution.
Andrzej Wajda captures this situation in Ashes and Diamonds, adapting a novel by Jerzy Andrzejewski, coincidentally one of the intellectuals Milosz devotes a chapter to and who served the revolution with a lot of faith and ardour. Still, this is not a propaganda movie; Wadja somehow managed to trick the censors into not seeing criticism against the way the Soviet Union betrayed the people who believe in its ideals.
Actor Zbigniew Cybulski plays Maciek Chelmicki, a killer working for the communists, who receives orders to kill Szczuka, a Communist leader. Although Maciek always found killing easy in the past, now he has to kill a former soldier and one of the many who believes in the Soviet Union. Furthermore, after falling in love with a barmaid, he realises that his life is a cycle of violence and that he wants to put an end to it. What follows is a night of self-discovery for the young killer.
Although I wanted to like this movie more, a disjointed and often confusing narrative construction threw me off at several points. Cybulski is perfect as the killer, though, initially relaxed and thorough, then as the night progresses he becomes introspective and melancholic. I also loved the cinematography, especially the games between light and shadow. My favourite sequence was the murder of Szczuka. As he falls in Maciek's arms fireworks ignite in the sky celebrating the end of war; Maciek runs away leaving the body by a puddle, the fireworks reflecting in the water. His personal crisis and the celebration of an entire country come together and we know the future won't bode well for either.
In free countries like Italy and France cinema revered communism. Movies like Novecento sound awfully dated nowadays. In countries where communism existed under no guises, their movies have remained timeless. This is not just a condemnation of one of the most oppressive totalitarian regimes that ever existed, but a depiction of human nature wherever ideals overthrow respect for life and dignity. Fifty-one years later, Ashes and Diamonds remains modern.
Andrzej Wajda captures this situation in Ashes and Diamonds, adapting a novel by Jerzy Andrzejewski, coincidentally one of the intellectuals Milosz devotes a chapter to and who served the revolution with a lot of faith and ardour. Still, this is not a propaganda movie; Wadja somehow managed to trick the censors into not seeing criticism against the way the Soviet Union betrayed the people who believe in its ideals.
Actor Zbigniew Cybulski plays Maciek Chelmicki, a killer working for the communists, who receives orders to kill Szczuka, a Communist leader. Although Maciek always found killing easy in the past, now he has to kill a former soldier and one of the many who believes in the Soviet Union. Furthermore, after falling in love with a barmaid, he realises that his life is a cycle of violence and that he wants to put an end to it. What follows is a night of self-discovery for the young killer.
Although I wanted to like this movie more, a disjointed and often confusing narrative construction threw me off at several points. Cybulski is perfect as the killer, though, initially relaxed and thorough, then as the night progresses he becomes introspective and melancholic. I also loved the cinematography, especially the games between light and shadow. My favourite sequence was the murder of Szczuka. As he falls in Maciek's arms fireworks ignite in the sky celebrating the end of war; Maciek runs away leaving the body by a puddle, the fireworks reflecting in the water. His personal crisis and the celebration of an entire country come together and we know the future won't bode well for either.
In free countries like Italy and France cinema revered communism. Movies like Novecento sound awfully dated nowadays. In countries where communism existed under no guises, their movies have remained timeless. This is not just a condemnation of one of the most oppressive totalitarian regimes that ever existed, but a depiction of human nature wherever ideals overthrow respect for life and dignity. Fifty-one years later, Ashes and Diamonds remains modern.