Ashes and Diamond
PopiĂłĆ i diament (Once upon a time)
Andrzej Wajda
A young soldier from the academy, Maciek Chelmicki, is ordered to shoot the secretary of the PPR central committee. By coincidence, he kills someone else. Meeting his victim face to face, he is shocked. He is forced to repeat his assassination attempt. He meets Krystyna, a young girl who works as a barmaid in the Monopol hotel restaurant. His affection for her makes him even more aware of the absurdity of the killings at the end of the war. His loyalty to his oath, and therefore his duty to obey his orders, tips the balance.
STARRING
DIRECTORÂ
Andrzej Wajda
WRITER
Jerzy Andrzejewski
SOUNDÂ
Bohdan BieĆkowski
IMAGEÂ
Jerzy WĂłjcik
EDITOR
Halina Nawrocka
MUSICÂ
Fryderyk Chopin, MichaĆ Kleofas OgiĆski & Jan Krenz
PRODUCTIONÂ
KADR studio
Andrzej Wajda

Born to a career soldier father and a schoolteacher mother, Andrzej Wajda was just thirteen when the Second World War broke out. His father was killed in action in September 1939, and the young Andrzej was forced to work to support his family. He worked as a cooper, locksmith, fresco restorer, etc. In 1942, he joined the Resistance and opposed communism. After completing his classical studies in 1946, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, where, with painter Andrzej Wroblewki, he founded the Autodictact Group, a movement influenced by neo-realism. He then studied film at the University of Lodz, graduating in 1952.
FILMOGRAPHY
KanaĆ (1957)
Dyrygent (1980)
CzĆowiek z ĆŒelaza (1981)
Korczak (1990)