Ashes and Diamonds (film)

Ashes and Diamonds
1958 Polish poster by Wojciech Fangor.[1]
Popiół i diament
Directed by	Andrzej Wajda
Screenplay by	Jerzy Andrzejewski Andrzej Wajda
Based on	Ashes and Diamonds 1948 novel by Jerzy Andrzejewski
Starring	Zbigniew Cybulski Ewa Krzyżewska Wacław Zastrzeżyński
Cinematography	Jerzy Wójcik
Edited by	Halina Nawrocka
Music by	Filip Nowak
Production company	Zespół realizatorów filmowych „Kadr”
Distributed by	Janus Films
Release date	3 October 1958 (1958-10-03)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	Poland
Language	Polish

Ashes and Diamonds (Polish: Popiół i diament) is a 1958 Polish drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on the 1948 novel by Polish writer Jerzy Andrzejewski. Starring Zbigniew Cybulski and Ewa Krzyżewska, it completed Wajda's war films trilogy, following A Generation (1954) and Kanal (1956). The action of Ashes and Diamonds takes place in 1945, shortly after World War II. The main protagonist of the film, former Home Army soldier Maciek Chełmicki, is acting in the anti-Communist underground. Maciek receives an order to kill Szczuka, the local secretary of the Polish Workers' Party. Over time, Chełmicki increasingly doubts if his task is worth doing.

Ashes and Diamonds, although based on the novel that directly supported the postwar Communist system in Poland, was subtly modified in comparison with the source material. Wajda sympathized with the soldiers of the Polish independence underground; thus, he devoted most of the attention to Chełmicki. During the three-month development of Ashes and Diamonds, the director made drastic changes to the baseline scenario, thanks to his assistant director Janusz Morgenstern, as well as Cybulski, who played the leading role. The film received permission from the authorities to be distributed only through Andrzejewski's intercession. The film did not receive permission to be screened at the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. However, Ashes and Diamonds appeared at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI award.

At first, Ashes and Diamonds met positive critical reception, both in Poland and worldwide. However, after the Revolutions of 1989, it was criticized for falsifying the collective memory of Polish partisans. Nevertheless, the film has maintained its reputation as one of the most famous Polish motion pictures in history.