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Ashes and Diamonds (Polish: Popiół i diament) is a 1958 Polish drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on the 1948 novel by Polish writer Jerzy Andrzejewski, and starring Zbigniew Cybulski and Ewa Krzyżewska. It completed Wajda's war films trilogy, following A Generation (1954) and Kanal (1956). The action of Ashes and Diamonds takes place in 1945, shortly after World War II. The main protagonist of the film, former Home Army soldier Maciek Chełmicki, is acting in the anti-Communist underground. Maciek receives an order to liquidate Szczuka, the local secretary of the Polish Workers' Party. Over time, Chełmicki increasingly doubts if his task is worth doing.

Ashes and Diamonds, although based on the novel which directly supported the postwar totalitarian regime in Poland, was subtly modified in comparison with the source material. Wajda sympathized with the soldiers of the Polish independence underground; thus, he devoted most of the attention to Chełmicki. During the three-month development of Ashes and Diamonds, the director made drastic changes to the baseline scenario, with the help of his assistant director Janusz Morgenstern, as well as Cybulski, who played the main role. The film received permission from the authorities to be distributed only through Andrzejewski's own intercession; even though, it was not allowed to be screened at the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. However, Ashes and Diamonds appeared at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI award.

At first, Ashes and Diamonds was met with positive critical reception, both in Poland and worldwide. Despite the fact that the film led to ambiguous interpretations–after the Revolutions of 1989, it was criticized for falsifying the collective memory of Polish partisans–it maintained the reputation of one of the most important Polish films in history.

Plot
The action of Ashes and Diamonds takes place on 8 May 1985, at the end of World War II. The film starts near a small country church, where the former Home Army soldiers, Maciek, Andrzej and Drewnowski, prepare to assassinate Konrad Szczuka, a political opponent and a secretary of Polish Workers' Party. The ambush fails, as the attackers realize that they have mistakenly killed two innocents.

The film shifts to the fictional town of Ostrowiec, where Andrzej and Maciek's superior, Major Waga, resides. Having learned that the assassination attempt failed, Waga orders Andrzej and Maciek to perform the task for the second time. They come to the Hotel Monopol Restaurant, where a banquet in honour of the victorious war begins. The combatants do not participate, though. While sitting in the bar, Maciek and Andrzej listen to the song "The Red Poppies of Monte Cassino" and reminisce their fallen comrades. In honour of them, Maciek lights several glasses of rectified spirit on fire. Contrary to them, their comrade Drewnowski gets straight to the banquet hall, where he discusses career prospects in postwar Poland with Pieniążek, a representative of the democratic press.

Afterwards, Maciek goes to his hotel room to check his gun. However, a barwoman Krystyna, with whom Maciek had made a flirtatious conversation, enters the room. Both young people realize that they fell in love, then go for a walk. It begins to rain, so Krystyna and Maciek decide to find shelter in a ruined church. Krystyna notices a poem inscribed on the wall, and Maciek recites it in a sombre tone. Both lovers soon part themselves, then Maciek returns to the bar where he discusses with Andrzej the sense of their duty. Meanwhile, completely drunk Drewnowski spoils the banquet, covering the other guests with foam from a fire extinguisher, and leaves the ball in shame. Szczuka, who takes part in the reception, learns from an officer about the place of his son Marek's residence.

Maciek suddenly recognizes Szczuka and exits the hotel after him. Then, while asking Szczuka for a light, Maciek shoots him in the heart. The next day, Maciek plans to leave Ostrowiec by train. However, he finds Andrzej beating Drewnowski for the betrayal of the underground. When Drewnowski calls Maciek's name, the assassin flees with fear. He accidentally runs into some soldiers of the Polish People's Army, who shoot at him and fatally wound him. Maciek, still trying to run away, dies in agony on the dump.

Cast

 * Zbigniew Cybulski as Maciek Chełmicki
 * Ewa Krzyżewska as Krystyna
 * Wacław Zastrzeżyński as Szczuka
 * Adam Pawlikowski as Andrzej
 * Bogumił Kobiela as Drewnowski
 * Stanisław Milski as Pieniążek
 * Ignacy Machowski as Waga

Writing
Ashes and Diamonds is loosely based on the novel by Jerzy Andrzejewski, which was published for the first time in 1948. The novel itself was a mandatory school set book in communist Poland and enjoyed respect among the contemporary authorities. The first directors who tried to adapt the book into a film were Erwin Axer and Antoni Bohdziewicz. In Axer's script, which adhered to the spirit of the original, the roles were supposed to be more caricatural. Historian Tadeusz Lubelski retrospectively commented Axer's script with the following words: "Communists are even more decent and busy, aristocrats and former Home Army members – even more vile and reckless." Bohdziewicz's script contained a similar propaganda message, depicting the command of the Polish resistance in a bad light. There, Major Waga blackmailed Maciek to kill Szczuka, threatening him with a war trial; in the end, Maciek decided to support Szczuka. However, none of these scripts were implemented, and policymakers considered Bohdziewicz's vision too "defensive." Jan Rybkowski also planned to direct an Ashes and Diamonds' adaptation, though he eventually decided to focus on a comedy titled Kapelusz pana Anatola (Mr. Anatol's Hat) and gave Andrzej Wajda an opportunity to launch a project.

In November 1957, Wajda carried out a letter conversation with Andrzejewski, during which the future director suggested several changes to the original story. A thread which concerned the judge Antoni Kossecki was deleted, so that the main plot focused on the confrontation between Maciek and Szczuka. Also, Wajda suggested that the story be condensed to only one day, with Maciek acting as the central hero. Wajda and Andrzejewski completed the screenplay in January 1958, giving it for scrutiny to the Commission for Screenplay Assessment. After long consideration, the Commission, whose members were Aleksander Ścibor-Rylski, Andrzej Braun, Krzysztof Teodor Toeplitz, Tadeusz Konwicki and Andrzej Karpowski, decided to vote for the screenplay's acceptance.

Development
Having the screenplay accepted, Wajda prepared for the development of Ashes and Diamonds within the "KADR" Film Unit. At first, the director intended to shoot the film in Łódź; however, he finally chose an atelier in Wrocław, the decision made due to possible savings and to prevent the policymakers from intervening too much in the film development. On 3 February 1958, the acting Chief of Cinematography Jerzy Lewiński made a decision to start the production of Ashes and Diamonds, without consulting the authorities. The contract for the commission guaranteed Wajda a salary of 69,000 Polish zloty, whereas Andrzejewski received 31,500 Polish zloty. The overall budget of Ashes and Diamonds is estimated at 6,070,000 Polish zloty.

Wajda then began gathering the film crew. Stanisław Adler became the producer, Jerzy Wójcik took the cinematography, and Filip Nowak was commissioned to select music material for the film. It was decided that Ashes and Diamonds be first filmed in the atelier, then in the open air. The main scenography made in atelier represented the Monopol Hotel restaurant; however, the film crew did use also authentic locations, such as the St. Barbara's Church in Wrocław and a chapel near Trzebnica.

The director had some issues with the selection of the future cast. However, he found support in the person of Janusz Morgenstern, his assistant director. Morgenstern, more familiar with the acting market, encouraged Wajda to put Zbigniew Cybulski in the role of Maciek, although the director considered the candidature of Tadeusz Janczar. Having come to the film set, Cybulski instantly refused to play in a partisan uniform suggested by costumeologist Katarzyna Chodorowicz, and insisted on wearing his "fifties' style dark glasses, jacket and tight jeans." Wacław Zastrzeżyński, a theatrical actor with barely any film experience, was cast as Szczuka. Adam Pawlikowski, a musicologist, took the role of Andrzej, whereas Cybulski's colleague Bogumił Kobiela was cast as Drewnowski.

Filming
Photography for Ashes and Diamonds started in March 1958, and finished in June 1958, after 60 shooting days. The film was shot in 1:1.85 format, which had been never used before in Polish cinema. During filming, the crew made crucial changes in the scenario, which affected the future reception of the film. For example, Cybulski suggested that Szczuka should hold Maciek while dying; Wajda added scenes containing Christian iconography; and Morgenstern invented the most widely known scene, during which Maciek and Andrzej light up the glasses filled with rectified spirit. The ending was changed, too; Wajda cut down the scene from the novel, during which some soldiers of Polish People's Army commented on Maciek's death with following words: "Hey, you, ... what made you run away?"