Ashes and Diamonds
by Apr 15, 2005Ashes and Diamonds has rightly been lauded as one of the finest of postwar East-Central European films, and the most vital work of the Polish School. It is salutary, however . . .
Synopsis
On the last day of World War II in a small town somewhere in Poland, Polish exiles of war and the occupying Soviet forces confront the beginning of a new day and a new Poland. In this incendiary environment we find Home Army soldier Maciek Chelmicki, who has been ordered to assassinate an incoming commissar. But a mistake stalls his progress and leads him to Krystyna, a beautiful barmaid who gives him a glimpse of what his life could be. Gorgeously photographed and brilliantly performed, Ashes and Diamonds masterfully interweaves the fate of a nation with that of one man, resulting in one of the most important Polish films of all time.
Cast
| Maciek Chelmicki | Zbigniew Cybulski |
| Krystyna | Ewa Krzyzewska |
| Szczuka | Waclaw Zastrzezynski |
| Andrzej | Adam Pawlikowski |
| Drewnowski | Bogumil Kobiela |
| Porter | Jan Ciecierski |
| Pieniazek | Stanislaw Milski |
| Kotowicz | Artur Mlodnicki |
| Mrs. Staniewicz | Halina Kwiatkowska |
| Major Florian | Ignacy Machowski |
| Slomka | Zbigniew Skowronski |
| Stefka | Barbara Krafftowna |
Credits
| Director | Andrzej Wajda |
| Screenplay | Andrzej Wajda and Jerzy Andrzejewski |
| Cinematography | Jerzy Wojcik |
| Editing | Halina Nawrocka |
| Based on the novel by | Jerzy Andrzejewski |
| Sound | Bogdan Bienkowski |
| Music conducted by | Filip Nowak |
| Production Design | Roman Mann |
| Camera | Krzsztof Winiewicz, Bogdan Myslinski, Jerzy Szurowski, Zygmunt Krusznicki and Wieslaw Zdort |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary by film scholar Annette Insdorf
- Andrzej Wajda: On Ashes and Diamonds, a 35-minute exclusive new interview with the director, second director Janusz Morgenstern, and film critic Jerzy Plazewski
- Vintage newsreel footage on the making of Ashes and Diamonds
- Rare behind-the-scenes production photos, publicity stills, and posters
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A new essay by film scholar Paul Coates
From the Current
Ashes and Diamonds
by Nov 15, 1994Andrzej Wajda’s third full-length film, Ashes and Diamonds (Popiol y diament) established the director as a leader of the new Polish cinema. Set in a provincial town on May 8, 1945, the day of the German capitulation, Ashes and Diamonds deals ostensibly with the emergence . . .
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