Review of Ashes and Diamonds (1958) by Michael E — 16 Sep 2008

This is a great film set on the 8th of May 1945 the last day of WWII in Poland. Maciek (Zbigniew Cybulski)("The Polish James Dean") is a Revolutionary for The Home Army who fails in his assignment to assassinate the newly appointed Communist leader, so he is given one more job to complete his mission, but along the way he meets a barmaid and falls in love and must then decide to continue violently enforcing his political ideals or choose love.

Andrej Wajda does an excellent job of directing this visually pleasing and intelligently written story. I found the cinematography and the symbolic imagery to be outstanding: upside down crucifixes, flaming glasses of vodka, pale white horse stopping into the frame, fireworks and gunshot wounds bursting into wings of flames onto bodies falling before The Virgin Mary.

This is an Influential film for many filmmakers and a very Intelligent and entertaining experience.