Ashes and Diamonds
Popiol i Diament
Andrzej Wajda
May 7, 1945. In a small Polish village, the war with Germany is over, but the situation is still unclear due to the infighting between the partisans of the A.K. (the army of occupied Poland, commanded during the war by London). They have received orders to assassinate Szcuka, the new local secretary of the workers' party. They carelessly kill two innocent bystanders. Worn out, Maciek sees the possibility for a new life through the growing love he shares with Krystyna...
With : Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzewska, Adam Pawlikowski
Screenplay : Jerzy Andrzejewski, Andrzej Wajda d'après son roman
Image : Jerzy Wojcik
Music : Jan Krenz, M. Oginski
Screenplay : Jerzy Andrzejewski, Andrzej Wajda d'après son roman
Image : Jerzy Wojcik
Music : Jan Krenz, M. Oginski
Production : ZRF Kadr
Distribution: Jeck Films
Distribution: Jeck Films
After A Generation and Canal, Wajda puts forth a third film devoted to the post-war generation. Drawing his inspiration from the dramatic history of Poland and from the structure of Greek tragedy (a unity of setting, time and action), Wajda succeeds in evoking universal sentiments. Thanks to his historical perspective, he reveals "the romantic myth of the free-minded Pole who yearns at any price to live in a free nation" (T. Lubelski). "The destinies of the young men in Canal or that of Macieck in Ashes and Diamonds could have been mine. Only by chance did I not find myself in their situation, so my duty was to tell their story as well as I could, given my capacities and my know-how" (A. Wajda).