Popiół i diament | Ashes and Diamonds (ENG friendly)

Francis Ford Coppola claimed that it is his favorite film and called it "beautiful and extraordinary". Martin Scorsese loves it, too, and asked Leonardo DiCaprio to watch it when they were shooting "The Departed". We kick off our meetings with Polish classics at Kinoteka with Andrzej Wajda's "Ashes and Diamonds": a film often considered the best Polish movie ever made. It tells the story of Maciek Chełmicki (Zbyszek Cybulski), a young Polish soldier who at the end of WWII must decide if he wants to continue the fight against communists or abandon the resistance and try to have a normal life.

Released in 1958, after the artistically compromised period of Socialist Realism, this thrilling war drama gathered young filmmakers at the height of their artistic powers. The actor Zbyszek Cybulski, routinely called "the Polish James Dean", plays with inimitable force and panache. Jerzy Wójcik, perhaps the finest Polish director of photography of that era, created an array of unforgettable, dynamic and often symbolic images. Andrzej Wajda, after the international success of "Canal", confirmed that he belongs to the crème de la crème of European filmmakers. The conflicts that "Ashes and Diamonds" tackles remain timeless: youthful energy clashes with pragmatism, idealistic values are tested and, in a tumultuous historical moment, simple love life remains elusive.

See this masterwork from a restored copy with English subtitles. The screening will feature an introduction in English by film critic Sebastian Smoliński.

Pokaz w języku polskim z angielskimi napisami. Seans poprzedzi prelekcja w języku angielskim.