Popiól i diament

original title:
Popiól i diament
other titles:
Ashes and Diamonds, (Asche und Diamant)
country / year of production:
Poland / 1958
original length:
108 min. , black/white
premiere:
3 September 1958
genre:
melodrama
based on:
Jerzy Andrzejewski. Asche und Diamant. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1994.
director:
Andrzej Wajda
film script:
Jerzy Andrzejewski
producer:
cinematographer:
editor:
composer:
cast (role):
Zbigniew Cybulski , Ewa Krzyzewska
more:
plot synopsis:
Maciek, a young Resistance fighter, is ordered to kill Szczuka, a Communist district leader, on the last day of World War II. Though killing has been easy for him in the past, Szczuka was a fellow soldier, and Maciek must decide whether to follow his orders.
keywords:
post-war era , resistance, opposition , execution , communism , comradeship , battle-fatigue
war:
Second World War (1939-1945)
literature:
Dennis De Nitto/ William Herman. Film and the critical Eye. New York/ London: Macmillian, 1975.

Andrzej Wajda. Ashes and diamonds. Tree films (Modern film scripts; 38). London: Lorrimer, 1973.
remarks:
After "Pokolenie" (1954) and "Kanal" (1956) this is the thrid and last part of Wajda`s trilogy on the Second World War.

Wins a British Academy Award and at the Venice Film Festival in 1959 the FIPRESCI Prize.
availability:
VHS, DVD