Ashes and Diamonds
1958 · Movie · Not Rated · 103 min · ★ 7.4 · 91% critics
On the last day of World War II, a young resistance fighter is ordered to assassinate a rising communist official, but a mistake leaves him shaken and forces him to consider trying again. As celebrations unfold in a hotel, a sudden romance and the chaos of shifting loyalties make him question duty, politics, and whether a normal life is still possible.
Based on Ashes and Diamonds
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Streaming on HBO Max.
2 hours to watch.
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Details
- Original title
- Popiół i diament
- Years
- 1958
- Release date
- 1958-10-03
- Language
- PL
- Rated
- Not Rated
- Runtime
- 103 min
- Critic score
- 91/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.4/10 (280 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a moody, character-driven postwar drama about loyalty and conscience, with romance and dark humor amid political uncertainty; Not for you if you dislike slow classics or dense politics like in Kanal.
Pros: tense moral dilemma; striking black-and-white images; strong atmosphere | Cons: politics can confuse; slow, deliberate pace; feels a bit dated
Themes
- polish resistance
- world war ii
- soviet military
- black and white
- post war
- post world war ii
- post-war poland
Cast & crew
Zbigniew Cybulski
as Maciek Chełmicki
Ewa Krzyżewska
as Krystyna Rozbicka
Wacław Zastrzeżynski
as Szczuka
Adam Pawlikowski
as Andrzej Kossecki
Bogumił Kobiela
as Drewnowski
Jan Ciecierski
as Porter
Stanisław Milski
as Pieniążek
Artur Młodnicki
as Kotowicz
Halina Kwiatkowska
as Staniewiczowa
Ignacy Machowski
as Waga
Directed by Andrzej Wajda