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ASHES
AND DIAMONDS
6/10
Popiol i Diament : Poland 1958 : Andrzej Wajda : 104mins
The
final section of Wajda’s seminal mid-50s trilogy after A Generation
and Kanal, Ashes and Diamonds is perhaps best known
today for the charismatic central performance from Zbigniew Cybulski –
whose death in a 1967 train accident cemented his reputation as “the Polish
James Dean.” But here the Ukraine-born Cybulski looks more like
a Slavic, animated version of Alain Delon, or perhaps Richard Beymer from
West Side Story, with his anachronistic black quiff and a sun-tan
evident even in monochrome – not to mention his sunglasses, which he wears
indoors, at night, and even when taking off his sweater. This isn’t entirely
for posing reasons, however – his character Maciel says he spent so long
in the sewers during the war (like the fighters in Kanal) that
his eyes have become permanently dark-adapted.
Cybulski’s
energetic turn looks only slightly mannered 44 years on – and it’s probably
the best reason to see this overlong, muddily-plotted political thriller
set on the last night of the War. With Poland ravaged and Warsaw in ruins,
the nation is a blank slate. But vicious schisms are already evident among
the victorious anti-Nazi forces, and young resistance fighter Maciel is
selected to bump off a prominent Community party official (Waclaw Zastrzezynski)
in a small-town hotel. As he waits for the right moment to pounce, the
assassin is distracted by a shapely young barmaid (Ewa Krzyzanowska) -
and as their passions ignite, Maciel starts to question the wisdom of
his mission…
After
a surprisingly violent opening, in which Maciel and his colleagues gun
rashly down the wrong car-load of victims, Ashes and Diamonds shifts
down several gears as the action relocates to the run-down but busy Metropol
Hotel. Though there are aspects of film noir in its tale of a fatalistic,
violent hero falling towards his doom, this isn’t really much of a thriller
– Wajda’s script (co-written with Jerzy Andrzejewski, author of the source
novel) spends too much time on the intricacies of internecine wartime
feuding and hits several dead spots as a result: only the most alert viewers
will be able to work out exactly what’s going on when, and why.
On the plus side Wajda and his cinematographer manipulate light and shadow to
craft some striking visuals, and it’s fascinating to see the supposedly
brave new dawn of 1945 refracted through the cynical hindsight of a Polish
survivor over a decade on. Things do finally pick up in the closing scenes,
which features some overdue (literal) fireworks and an extended death-scene
for a major character that still packs a punch, rewarding patient viewers
who’ve gallantly stuck with Wajda through the various stretches of hard
going: diamonds among the ashes, indeed.
10th November, 2002
(seen same day, CineSide,
Newcastle)
by Neil
Young
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