Essential Art House: Ashes and Diamonds

Zbigniew Cybulski, sometimes referred to as the Polish James Dean (James Dean is never referred to as the American Zbigniew Cybulski, cultural imperialism at work!), actually reminds me in this movie of Marlon Brando in "The Wild One" (a far inferior film); Cybulski has an ongoing flirtation with a barmaid that is eerily similar to the one Brando has in "Wild One" with Mary Murphy. I have not read the Andrejewski novel the Polish movie is based on, but I assume the flirtation is in the novel and that the novel predates the Brando movie. I cannot imagine any person taking Polish cinema seriously, or wanting to capture the mood of young people in post-war Europe, and not having seen this film. This and Skolimowski's "Bariera" capture that strange mix of gritty disillusionment and dreamlike hallucination, typical of that time and milieu, without which your experience of world culture is incomplete. Much more meaningful to me than anything the Beat Generation ever produced in the U.S., and also better than Godard's "Breathless." A similar male leading role there, too, though the Godard film has more quirky humor--some may find the Wajda film a bit pretentious and taking itself too seriously by comparison, but then France did not have its major city blown to bits in WWII.

Ashes and Diamonds is one of the great foreign films from the 1950s, particularly one of Wajda's great films. It is an excellent look at post-war Poland, at the very day when WWII ends and the Communists and the anti-Communists who had been united in fighting Germany were now opponents.

The movie is not great, but it's better than most modern American fare. It gives insight into other nations' sensibilities toward the elements in film that are important - complex plot and character development, and especially the latter's motivations. The lead character in this is just a bit too bizarre, and his final actions make no sense, even given the existentialist POV. On the other hand, we do gain a view of life under the communists in the late '40's, and I found this the most interesting facet. The photography and directing are superb. Unfortunately, there are no extras on the DVD.

Cybulski had uncommon power as an actor. Damn those Polish trains for killing him. After seeing the movie in 1962 I took a nice girl to bed.

Excellent depiction of the confusing days after WWII in Poland. Solid in every respect, and visually imaginative. Highly recommended for art film buffs.

Excellent

This is an older pressing from the pre-Criterion Janus days. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if a new release of this film is forthcoming. This is an amazing film and deserving of the royal Criterion treatment complete with essays and commentary.This film takes place over a period of just under 24 hours, starting in the morning on May 8th 1945 (the day Germany signed their surrender - VE day as it's now known) and ends the next morning. Without issuing spoilers, the main characters are underground Polish freedom fighters. They are working towards a free Poland, and had originally fought the Germans during the occupation, but are now fighting the Soviets as well as Communist Polish leaders. In one scene a Soviet loyal Polish police officer tells a captured freedom fighter "You used to kill Germans, now you kill Poles!".The films opens with an assassination carried out by the main characters, unfortunately against the wrong person. You discover very soon after that the actual target was coming along the road just behind the first jeep. Whoops! The remainder of the film revolves around this group of soldiers and the ensuing 'mop up' attempt. Throughout, the film, Maciek, played by an extremely talented, and sadly short lived Zbigniew Cybulski, questions his purpose. It does not help that he has fallen head over heels in love with a very shy, beautiful bartender at the hotel.The setting is grim yet hauntingly beautiful at times. This is apparent even within the hotel, some rooms being opulent (such as the private banquet room) others, including Maciek's hotel room, are very run down. At times the scenes are in ruins, along garbage heaped streets and alleys, and in general set in very dilapidated structures. Of course Poland was overrun by Germans and then overrun by Soviets a few years later. I applaud the authenticity of the scenes.Wajda is a great director, I can see a little influence from perhaps Fellini, Bergman (the cinematography) and Bunuel (especially the ending). It is also amazing that this film was not censored more than it was. The communist regime was notorious for removing anything that didn't seem to put forth the great message of comradeship. Wajda spoke about this to Derek Malcolm of the Guardian UK: "Wajda once said to me, when I asked him whether he would prefer the freedom of Western film-making to the artistic constraints of the Eastern bloc, that there were always ways of getting round political censorship but no way to avoid the censorship of money."Nevertheless, it's not a rosy and sunshine filled Communist propaganda piece (like Letter Never Sent). Instead this film questions the future of the individuals in the film. Many people have no future in Communist Poland (such as the underground resistance), others will be moving to government positions with the new regime. In one of the best and more eerie scenes in any film I have seen, the cast dances a final Polonaise farewell (played terribly since the band didn't know it). In the end it is a film about Poland, a film for Poland. And it is one of the best films from the Soviet era of Eastern Europe that I have seen yet.

a masterpiece excellent quality as always by criterion 5 stars