Essential Cinema: Films of Andrzej Wajda

ASHES & DIAMONDS

Directed by Andrzej Wajda

Poland, 1958, 1h 43min, 35mm, In Polish with English Subtitles

Essential Cinema  Films of Andrzej Wajda  100 Years of Poland’s Regained Independence: Polish History in Film Masterpieces

There are no current or future screenings planned for this film.

A classic of post-war Polish cinema and the film that made Wajda known internationally. At the end of World War II, two Polish factions that have both been battling the Nazis begin a struggle for power. ASHES AND DIAMONDS takes place on the last day of the war, when soldiers who have fought alongside each other begin to turn and take sides. At the center of the story is a young soldier who is under orders to assassinate a high ranking communist official, and who finds himself in a battle with his own conscience. Striking both visually and narratively, the film is a poetic masterpiece that is a revelation still today. Wajda’s own deep losses and personal experiences of resistance in the war permeate the narrative, making this a war film that is heartbreaking because it feels deeply personal.

"100 Years of Poland’s Regained Independence: Polish History in Film Masterpieces" is a public task co-financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland under the "Collaboration in the Field of Public Diplomacy 2018" competition. The views expressed above are those of its author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

Event is financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage under the Cultural Bridges grant programme run by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Multiannual ‘NIEPODLEGŁA’ Programme for 2017-2021.
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