Ashes and Diamonds focuses on the Maciek (Zbigniew Cybulski) the films protagonist who constantly wears sunglasses while being the hatchet man for Andrzej (Adam Pawlikowski).  Both were operatives for the Polish Home Army, as they drove the Germans out of Poland.  Now they try to usher the Soviet Union out of Poland.  However, this is a far more complicated issue than defending Poland against the Nazis, as the Poles now suffer from war fatigue of a bloody war that cost them 25% of the Polish lives.  The opening scene when Maciek and Andrzej await a recently appointed Communist official, Szczuka (Waclaw Zastrzezynski), that is suppose to arrive in a jeep symbolically displays their fatigue and the difficulty of driving the Soviets out of Poland, as they accidentally kill the wrong man.

Maciek is a man of principles, which shines through when they await for their snitch.  However, he also has soft spot for women, as he must have spent most of his youth fighting the Nazis.  In a bar waiting to make a call to confirm their assassination, of which they made a mistake on, Maciek meets the bar girl Krystyna (Ewa Krzyzewska) with whom he begins to flirt.  Eventually, Maciek and Andrzej discover their error, and they have to stay another night to get the job done by killing Szczuka.  To hasten time Maciek continues to flirt with Krystyna, whom he invites to his hotel room, but he has no allusions that she will visit him, which she does.

The meeting with Krystyna provides an opportunity for Maciek to ponder over his existence, as he seems to have been stuck in a rut ever since the war that seems difficult to stop. Krystyna does not intend to fall in love with Maciek, as she has lost her whole family to the war and she does not need further heartache.  She also asks why he wears the sunglasses, as he informs her that he spent much time in the sewers during the Polish uprising in 1944.  A detailed illustration of how it was in the sewers is provided by the second film, Kanal (1957), in Wajda's war trilogy.  In addition, this also delivers another analogy to the aftermath of the war that offers a thought to his darkened perspective of the Polish society, which he seems to have a hard time to getting rid off.

Wajda continues to frame each scene with artistic detail, as the mise-en-scene and the cinematography continue to amaze the audience.  The subtle shots of the Red Army marching while tanks makes porcelain vibrate causing a sound of pressing danger.  Yet, the people are tired of fighting, as they simply surrender to the arriving Red Army.  The surrender finds it way to the audience through several scenes such as when Maciek and Krystyna lay in bed and talk about her losses.  In addition, parties and endless drinking also offer the notion of no more war while trying to forget the painful memories of the war.  Despite the notion of war fatigue some still find an opportunity to fight against the Soviet involvement in Poland, which is wittingly and comically portrayed through a scene where a drunk reporter asks, "Is this a democracy or not?"

DIRECTED BY

COUNTRY

Poland

Filmography links and data courtesy of