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Information

A.k.a.
Ashes and Diamonds
Year
1958
Runtime
103 min.
Director
Andrzej Wajda
Genres
Drama, War
Rating *
7.9
Votes *
5,757
Checks
2,812
Favs
254
Dislikes
22
Favs/checks
9.0% (1:11)
Favs/dislikes
12:1
* View IMDb information

Top comments

  1. Siskoid's avatar

    Siskoid

    I'm interested in realities and contexts I know nothing about, even if a lot of the details are going to go over my head. Such is the case with Ashes and Diamonds, set in Poland during Germany's withdrawal and a Communist regime starting to move in. The politics and history are somewhat out of my reach, but it's Poland at a crossroads, about to choose its destiny. A mirror to that is the main character Maciek, a freedom fighter who can choose further violence, or love/peace. A choice between ashes and diamonds. Or perhaps he has little say in the matter, which doesn't bode well for Poland. Either way, while there are a lot of conveniences to expose his guilt and create a moral context for his choice (why does he keep stumbling on victims of his war crimes?), his reactions are quite correct, and on the whole, the acting is strong enough to ignore the melodramatic tropes. What I mostly admire about the film, though, is it cinematography and richness of detail. There are all sorts of moments, big and small, that I don't feel I've seen before, and which can only come from astute observation/experience (whether by the director or the source novel's writer). 3 years 10 months ago
  2. thedamnone's avatar

    thedamnone

    I see the problem you have with encoding, the last letter of the first word is http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/0142/index.htm

    this one
    12 years 7 months ago
  3. dombrewer's avatar

    dombrewer

    I don't know a great deal beyond the basic facts of what happened at the end of WWII in Poland and this film doesn't help much - it's a politically confusing, extremely talky and rather dramatically uninteresting film (cocky resistance fighter falls in lust with a barmaid and discovers a conscience)- although a good looking one with some striking B&W imagery. This is my third Andrzej Wajda film, and I've come to the conclusion I don't like his films very much - he seems to want to be a serious artist exploring the plight of his homeland while fighting the urge to make action movies - the result is a lack of subtlety. The acting is frequently melodramatic, the screenplay's overblown - spoiler. It's hailed as a classic on all sides, but for me it's dated and failed to keep me interested. 11 years 7 months ago
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In 17 official lists

  1. This movie ranks #3 in Muzeum Kinematografii w Łodzi's Best Polish Films
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    Muzeum Kinematografii w …

    3
  2. This movie ranks #21 in Polski Instytut Sztuki Filmowej's 100 Years of Polish Film
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    Polski Instytut Sztuki F…

    21
  3. This movie ranks #33 in 101 War Movies You Must See Before You Die
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    101 War Movies You Must …

    33
  4. This movie ranks #41 in The New York Times's Book of Movies
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    The New York Times's Boo…

    41
  5. This movie ranks #42 in Empire's The 100 Best Films of World Cinema
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    Empire's The 100 Best Fi…

    42
  6. This movie ranks #69 in Halliwell's Top 1000: The Ultimate Movie Countdown
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    Halliwell's Top 1000: Th…

    69
  7. This movie ranks #100 in iCheckMovies's 1950s Top 100
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    iCheckMovies's 1950s Top…

    100
  8. This movie ranks #141 in Harvard's Suggested Film Viewing: Narrative Films
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    Harvard's Suggested Film…

    141
  9. This movie ranks #219 in Mark Cousins's The Story of Film: An Odyssey
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    Mark Cousins's The Story…

    219
  10. This movie ranks #238 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films
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    TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…

    238
  11. This movie ranks #264 in BFI's 360 Classic Feature Films Project
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    BFI's 360 Classic Featur…

    264
  12. This movie ranks #326 in The Criterion Collection
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    The Criterion Collection

    326
  13. This movie ranks #329 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
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    329
  14. This movie ranks #428 in Jonathan Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema
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    Jonathan Rosenbaum's Ess…

    428
  15. This movie ranks #499 in Sight & Sound's The Greatest Films of All Time
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    Sight & Sound's The Grea…

    499
  16. This movie ranks #548 in David Thomson's Have You Seen?
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    548
  17. This movie ranks #708 in UNESCO's Memory of the World
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    UNESCO's Memory of the W…

    708
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