Ashes and Diamonds (1958) Review

Title: Ashes and Diamonds
Year: 1958
Director: Andzreg Wajda
Country: Poland
Language: Polish 

In the mid fifties a group of Polish filmmakers sought to depict their country onscreen, attempting to understand the political reforms caused by the outcome of World War Two. Andzrej Wajda's Ashes and Diamonds was considered the best of these pictures, but it was a tricky film to make. It had to depict the Polish resistance army, while also not upsetting the communist censors. 

As World War II and the German occupation ends, the Polish resistance and the Soviet forces turn on each other in an attempt to take over leadership in Communist Poland.

In Ashes and Diamonds, Poland is in near ruin. Buildings are in such shambles that even light rain causes indoor flooding. Our main character, Maciek (Zbigniew Cybulski), looks disheveled, mimicking the environment around him. The communist Hotel Monopol, where leaders are celebrating the war's end, is bathed in glamour. It suggests that in the upcoming years there will be an even bigger power imbalance between the working and ruling class. 

Maciek looks, and behaves like, an outsider in this post-war Poland. This is a country that has become quite different from what he had been accustomed to. The cinematography and set design make this setting feel uncomfortable and alienating. We are immersed a somewhat surreal, nightmarish atmosphere that invites questions about Poland's position on the world stage. 

Ashes and Diamonds is a very cynical film that is hard to engage with in present day. Its an important time capsule, a window into what life looked like in Poland at the time, but I wonder if the Poles would admire it in contemporary times. It is a very well-made film, just not one that I'd rewatch.