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Movies / On DVD / Ashes and Diamonds
Ashes and Diamonds

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Ashes and Diamonds (1958)

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88 %
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Reviews Counted:8

Fresh:7

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.4/10

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Synopsis: Andrzej Wajda's adaptation of Jerzy Andrzejewski classic novel comprises the third part of the director's World War II trilogy. Set in the immediate postwar era of 1945, the film stars Zbigniew... Andrzej Wajda's adaptation of Jerzy Andrzejewski classic novel comprises the third part of the director's World War II trilogy. Set in the immediate postwar era of 1945, the film stars Zbigniew Cybulski as Maciek Chelmicki, a gunman for the Polish underground. When he and another operative, Andrzej (Adam Pawlikowski), ambush a jeep in which the new Communist party secretary, Szczuka (Waclaw Zastrzezynski), is supposed to be arriving, they find that he was never in the jeep. Maciek's superiors in the underground order him to make another attempt on Szczuka's life, and both Maciek and his target end up checking into the same hotel. While waiting to take down his quarry, Maciek has a fling with a barmaid, Krystyna (Ewa Krzyzanowska), that makes him question his commitment to the cloak-and-dagger life of the underground. A party celebrating the liberation goes on in the ground floor convention room, ironic for Maciek, who knows that a new war is just beginning. At daybreak, he leaves the barmaid and goes to execute his orders. Widely regarded as the best of Wajda's early films, the powerful antiwar statement features extraordinary work by the short-lived Cybulski, often described as the Polish James Dean. [More]

Starring: Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzanowska

Starring: Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzanowska

Director: Andrzej Wajda

Director: Andrzej Wajda

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Ashes and Diamonds

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1 - 14 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/24/03
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Beautifully filmed and percolating with the futility of violence "Ashes and Diamonds" is a treasure of Polish cinema from a master filmmaker.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/11/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The third panel in Wajda WWII trilogy (that began with A Generation and continued with Kanal) is considered one of his best works, and it makes clear why the charismatic Cybulski was labeled the Polish James Dean; dying young makes the comparison ironic

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
07/19/07
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

This taut political thriller is a fine example of one of the first Polish New Wave films.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/24/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
N/R

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Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
06/13/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

No review available.

comment Comment
03/27/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
10/10/04
Matt Bailey
Matt Bailey
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

No review available.

comment Comment
11/14/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

Hailed as a masterpiece by others, Ashes and Diamonds failed to capture my imagination

Full Review Source: Movie Habit | comment Comment
11/06/03
Marty Mapes
Marty Mapes
Movie Habit
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Cybulski, called the Polish James Dean, gives a broodingly intense performance.

comment Comment
03/30/03
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/26/01
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
 
 
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