Directed by:
Andrzej WajdaCinematography:
Jerzy WójcikCast:
Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyżewska, Wacław Zastrzeżyński, Adam Pawlikowski, Bogumił Kobiela, Jan Ciecierski, Stanislaw Milski, Artur Mlodnicki (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
The entire film takes place on 8 May 1945, when the war in Europe ended with Germany's formal surrender – but while other countries celebrated, Poland's postwar power struggle was only just beginning. In depicting the various factions jockeying for position, including ambitious Communists, aristocratic patriots, cynical journalists and anti-Nazi rebels recently emerged from the Warsaw sewers, Wajda brilliantly anatomises a riven country desperately trying to find its identity at a time when a fifth of its population had recently been killed and many more driven into exile. Maciek Chelmicki (Zbigniew Cybulski) embodies this conflict: outwardly a calculating assassin, his ultra-cool façade begins to crack when he badly botches a mission, falls in love with the barmaid Krystyna (Ewa Krzyzewska) and dares to dream of a life outside the armed resistance that's characterised his entire adult life. (Arrow Films)
(more)Cast
Józef Pieracki
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
The Noose (1957)
The Saragossa Manuscript (1964)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Cyryl Przybył
Poland
Best movies:
The Noose (1957)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Shadow (1956)
Grażyna Staniszewska
Poland
Best movies:
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Black Cross (1960)
Answer to Violence (1958)
Jerzy Jogałła
Poland
Best movies:
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Marian Wiśniowski
Best movies:
The Saragossa Manuscript (1964)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Speed (1959)
Marian Skorupa
Poland
Best movies:
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Triumph of the Spirit (1989)
Jerzy Adamczak
Poland
Best movies:
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Halina Siekierko
Best movies:
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Juliusz Grabowski
Poland
Best movies:
The Noose (1957)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
The Depot of the Dead (1958)
Roman Mikuła
Best movies:
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
The Depot of the Dead (1958)
Ryszard Pietruski
Poland
Best movies:
Europa Europa (1990)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
The Ashes (1965)