Popiól i diament (1958)

Director:

Andrzej Wajda

Writers:

Jerzy Andrzejewski (novel)
Jerzy Andrzejewski (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 May 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Maciek, a young Resistance fighter, is ordered to kill Szczuka, a Communist district leader, on the last day of World War II...

Plot Keywords:

Polish | Bartender | Celebration | Choice | Communist

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win

Cast

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
Wiktor Grotowicz	...	Franek Pawlicki (as W. Grotowicz)

Also Known As:

Ashes and Diamonds (USA)
Popiół i diament (Poland)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Zespól Filmowy "Kadr"

Trivia:

One of Martin Scorsese's favorite movies. He showed it to Leonardo DiCaprio while making The Departed (2006), as main characters of these two movies have to deal with the same dilemmas.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Maciek is running away from Drewnowski and then the Russian soldiers, a train above them passes by. In one shot it is going to the left of the screen. Then in the next shot it is going to the right, then to the left again.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Charming Billy (1999)

A masterpiece that should never be forgotten

First, I've read a book by Jerzy Andrzejewski and then I've seen the movie. After that, I never went back to the book. It was not because it was bad, quite the contrary - it was very good. But the movie by Andrzej Wajda is definitely a masterpiece of Polish movie-making. The main plot of the movie revolves around Maciek Chelmicki, a young idealist who fought against the Germans and then turned to fight against the Communists. He is sent to kill Szczuka, one of The Party's middle rank administrators, by the Polish underground.That's the plot. The movie itself is about a lot of important things, common to all people (but I believe the Polish people will find a few of them more emotionally binding):

1. Nothing is black or white, everything is just a shade of gray

2. Is death, no matter how you try to justify it, senseless?

3. Is it better to live, while on your knees or die standing straight? Or maybe it's better to try to live standing straight?

4. That sometimes it's not war that is hell, it's living through war and trying to live a normal life that is a lot harder (thank God I do not know if it is so)

Wajda's movie doesn't give direct answers to any of these questions - each person may watch the movie from a different point of view and get to a totally different conclusion. But even if you're not into psychological movies about war, or noir-movies (and Popiol i Diament is definitely a sort of a noir-movie) it's worth watching for just one scene - the burning vodka glasses at the bar - Cybulski at his best.

And lastly - the motto of the movie (and of the book as well):

"Will ash and chaos be left in the end, that follows a storm into abyss Or may a diamond be found in the ash, a dawn of an everlasting victory"

Cyprian Kamil Norwid

PS: I hope Mr Norwid will not turn in his grave at the quality of my translation but that part of a poem by CK Norwid sums up the movie really well.