Review of Ashes and Diamonds (1958) by Martin T — 27 Sep 2009

Imagine Waldo of "Where's Waldo?" fame as a hired gun with the Polish Resistance during WWII, falling in love with a bartender and watching everything go wrong in the span of 12 hours. If you can do that, you'll have a pretty good idea for what to expect here except that's both short-sided and somewhat belittling of director Wajda's excellent work.

While our likable duo of contract activists drink (complete with ceremonial whiskey vigil), watch their chum lose his job through an unfortunately hilarious depiction of media relationships and uncover more about the grisly effects of "bad timing" (when your first date involves stumbling across the bodies of two people you shot earlier that day, it's kind of tough to bounce back), something happens to us and we are drawn into a movie that really makes you wonder where its 100-minutes went.

It's Wajda's direction, his actors and his story (minus the wonky symbolism at times and the somewhat forced "father figure" aspect). "Kanal" is still a tough film to beat but Wajda certainly delivers a potential contender for that honor.