Ashes and Diamonds

1958 · 1h43 · Film

Directed by Andrzej Wajda

Starring Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyżewska, Wacław Zastrzeżynski, Adam Pawlikowski, Bogumił Kobiela, Jan Ciecierski, Stanisław Milski, Artur Młodnicki, Halina Kwiatkowska, Ignacy Machowski

Ideal when you feel… Romantic Sad / low

A young academy soldier, Maciek Chelmicki, is ordered to shoot the secretary of the KW PPR. A coincidence causes him to kill someone else. Meeting face to face with his victim, he gets a shock. He faces the necessity of repeating the assassination. He meets Krystyna, a girl working as a barmaid in the restaurant of the "Monopol" hotel. His affection for her makes him even more aware of the senselessness of killing at the end of the war. Loyalty to the oath he took, and thus the obligation to obey the order, tips the scales.

Original title

Popiół i diament

Original language

Polish

Screenplay

Jerzy Andrzejewski, Andrzej Wajda

Cinematography

Jerzy Wójcik

Cast

Adam Pawlikowski, Bogumił Kobiela, Jan Ciecierski, Stanisław Milski, Artur Młodnicki, Halina Kwiatkowska, Ignacy Machowski, Zbigniew Skowroński, Barbara Krafftówna

Updated July 22, 2026

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