Through the Ashes of the Empire

Through the Ashes of the Empire (Prin cenușa imperiului) is a 1976 Romanian war drama film directed by Andrei Blaier. Is a picaresque tale of betrayal, survival and coming of age based on a novel by Zaharia Stancu.

Plot
In 1917, during World War I, the Diplomate (Dinică) and young Darie (Oseciuc) escape from a Bucharest occupied by the German Army only to come across, as they progress 'through the ashes' of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the sufferance, despair, generosity and heroism that will lead them to very different conclusions.

Cast

 * Gheorghe Dinică as the Diplomate
 * Gabriel Oseciuc as young Darie
 * Cornel Coman (actor) as Spelbul
 * Ștefan Sileanu as Siteavul
 * Ferenc Bencze as Dodu
 * Ernest Maftei as the Lăutar
 * Jean Reder as the Sergeant (Feldwebel)
 * Constantin Rauțchi	as a Romanian prisoner
 * Teodor Pâcă	as the white-bearded prisoner
 * Nucu Păunescu as another prisoner
 * Petre Gheorghiu as the prisoner with glasses
 * Traian Petruț as another prisoner
 * Ion Porsilă as another prisoner
 * Anton Aftenie	as Nea Aftenie, another prisoner
 * Mircea Jida as a young prisoner
 * Boris Ciornei as the Fisherman
 * Károly Sinka as the German officer
 * Irina Petrescu as the Serbian woman
 * Florina Cercel as a Greek woman
 * Elena Albu as another Greek woman
 * Corneliu Gârbea as the Serbian partisan leader
 * Mircea Bașta as the socialist militant
 * Andrei Codarcea as the Serbian interpreter
 * Gheorghe Tomescu
 * Nicolae Praida as the police commissioner
 * Constantin Vîrtejanu
 * Marieta Luca
 * Emil Raisenauer
 * Nicolae Simion
 * Ion Manolescu
 * Victor Radovici