65th Anniversary of the Ashes and Diamonds
On October 3, 1958, Andrzej Wajda's film "Popiól i diament (Ashes and Diamonds)" was released in Polish cinemas.
The film is based on the novel of the same name by Polish writer Jerzy Andrzejewski, published in 1948. However, it is necessary to clarify that the original version of Andrzejewski’s novel was called “Zaraz po wojnie (Directly After the War)” and was published in the magazine “Odpowiedzenie” in 1947. But the novel was subjected to harsh criticism, both from pro-communist critics and anti-Stalinists. As a result, Andrzejewski subjected it to serious revision and published it as a separate book in 1948 under the title “Popiól i diament (Ashes and Diamonds)”. (The title is inspired by the lines of a poem by the famous Polish poet Cyprian Norwid.) The novel became not just popular in Poland. It was included in the school literature curriculum, and in 1959, by a vote of readers of the newspaper Žiče Warsaw, with an absolute majority of votes, it was recognized as the best book of the post-war decade.
Andrzej Wajda was not the first director to conceive of a film adaptation of this novel. The first director to try to film Andrzejewski's novel was Erwin Axer. But he, apparently trying to please the then party leadership, endowed the communist characters with increased nobility and aristocracy, and made caricatures of their opponents. Many figures in Polish cinema did not like this interpretation, and the project did not take place. And then Andrzej Wajda got to work.
Filming lasted 60 days, from March to June 1958. On July 7, a private screening of the film took place for the management of Polish cinema. Representatives of the PUWP strongly objected to the release of the film on cinema screens. Alexander Ford (real name Mosze Lifszyc), a professor at the Higher State School of Cinematography, whom Roman Polanski, a former student of this School, characterized as an “orthodox Stalinist,” especially insisted on banning the film. The author of the novel, who had enormous authority in the cultural environment, stood up for the picture. As a result, a compromise was reached: Wajda’s film will be released in public cinemas, but will not be released outside Poland. But the acting director of the film department, Jerzy Lewiński, on his own initiative, sent the film to the Venice International Film Festival.
On August 31, 1959, Andrzej Wajda's film "Ashes and Diamonds" was presented to participants and guests of the Venice International Film Festival. The circumstances of the submission of the film “Ashes and Diamonds” did not allow it to participate in the competition for the main prize of this film festival. But this did not stop the film from receiving the FIPRESCI Award. This award ensured the film's international fame. A year later, the British Film Academy nominated the film for its BAFTA Award in the category Best Film from Any Source. Wajda's film did not receive the award; it went to William Wyler's "Ben-Hur". But the company of the “relative losers” for the film “Ashes and Diamonds” was made up by more than worthy films. For example, “The Story of a Nun” by Fred Zinnemann, “Some Like It Hot” by Billy Wilder, “Anatomy of a Murder” by Otto Preminger, “Ansiktet (The Magician)” by Ingmar Bergman, etc.
Reviews from professional critics around the world for Andrzej Wajda's film "Ashes and Diamonds" are dominated by the highest ratings - "nines" and "tens", as well as the most excellent characteristics: "a great classic and a standard for many directors", "the most famous Polish film for the entire history of cinema,” “an imperishable masterpiece of world cinema,” etc. But not only film critics highly appreciated Wajda’s film, but also many great film directors, for example, Martin Scrosese, Francis Ford Coppola, Rene Clair and others. Martin Scorsese, when starting work on The Departed, told Leonardo DiCaprio to watch the film because, in his opinion, his hero would have to face the same dilemmas as Zbigniew Cybulski's hero.
Despite the fact that more than 60 years have passed since the release of Andrzej Wajda's film "Ashes and Diamonds", modern moviegoers rate it very highly. 63% of IMDB and Kinopoisk users gave this film ratings from 8 to 10. Taking into account this indicator and the above, the rating of Andrzej Wajda's film "Ashes and Diamonds" according to FilmGourmand was 7.985, which allowed it to take 724th Rank in the Golden Thousand .
