12 Movies Challenge: 'Ashes and Diamonds'

by Julian Spivey
Last year I embarked on a movie challenge in hopes of seeing some films I’ve never seen and more importantly opening myself up to some kinds of films I likely would never see. The premise is that you have 12 months to watch 12 movies recommended by 12 friends. I don’t often participate in such social media challenges but being a movie buff, I felt this might be an interesting way to get out of my comfort zone a bit when it comes to watching movies.

Like in 2023, I have some movies on the list that I’ve always meant to get around to watching but haven’t – most notably the 1962 classic “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which I think I saw the first half of in school but was absent on the day it finished. And there’s some stuff I probably never would’ve gotten around to like Andrzej Wajda’s 1958 Polish film “Ashes and Diamonds.”

As I did last year I will write about my thoughts and feelings on each of these films after I have viewed them.
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Here are the 12 movies recommended to me and the months I’ve assigned myself to watch them:
 
January: “The Wonder” (2022)
February: “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962)
March: “Dreamgirls” (2006)
April: “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004)
May: “21 Jump Street” (2012)
June: “Mamma Mia” (2008)
July: “City of Angels” (1998)
August: “Fried Green Tomatoes” (1991)
September: “Ashes and Diamonds” (1958)
October: “Clue” (1985)
November: “The Intouchables” (2011)
December: “The Agony and the Ecstasy” (1965) 

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Photo: Janus Films

On Saturday night, I texted my wife, Aprille, and said: “I’m watching a Polish film from the late ‘50s. Bet you can’t guess who recommended it.”

She immediately knew it was our old buddy Will, who has spent most of the last decade-plus living in Poland and has really immersed himself in the country's culture.

The film is “Ashes and Diamonds,” or “Popiół i Diament” in its native language. Directed by Andrzej Wajda, it completed his war film trilogy, which included 1954’s “A Generation” and 1956’s “Kanal,” which I haven’t seen.

“Ashes and Diamonds” was my first foray into Wajda’s filmography and the world of Polish film. 

“Ashes and Diamonds,” currently streaming on Max in the U.S., takes place in 1945 on the final day of World War II for the Poles. The film begins with two anti-communist underground fighters, Maciek (Zbigniew Cybulski) and Andrzej (Adam Pawlikowski), setting up the assassination of a local secretary of the Polish Workers’ Party, with communism the next threat to Poland following the defeat of the Nazis.

Maciek and Andrzej, unfortunately, kill the wrong men, setting up a scenario where Maciek must try to assassinate the right man at a hotel on the night of a banquet for a local politician.  

Maciek’s feelings for his duty versus his future lead to doubts about whether to see through his mission or desert and build a new life. This feeling is aided by his immediate attraction to the hotel’s barmaid Krystyna (Ewa Krzyzewska), and I’m sure further by the realization he’s killed innocent men (though to be sure, that’s never explicitly stated).

Being a fan of many American film classics from this same era, I couldn’t help but see how much more mature “Ashes and Diamonds” was compared to its American counterparts, both things like language, sexual mores (the immediate hookup), and its stark realities, undoubtedly coming from the hardships the Polish people had lived through less than two decades prior and hadn’t entirely escaped. It was amazing that this film was even released, given Poland’s politics at the time it was made and released. It could’ve been buried forever, or at least for decades.  

The film's performances are all top-notch, but Cybulski is obviously the film's star. At the time, he was considered the James Dean of Polish actors. Though, I will say he reminded me more of a Peter Fonda/”Easy Rider” era performer (which would, of course, come after – maybe Fonda was inspired by Cybulski?) It’s the kind of performance where you know Cybulski knows he’s hot shit, but it doesn’t impact it negatively.

One of the things I wanted from this exercise of asking friends to recommend movies I likely hadn’t seen was to expand my viewing habits, and the number of international films I've seen over the last two years has been one of the best examples of this. “Ashes and Diamonds marks the fifth international film I’ve seen since beginning this project last year, and Will has been a big help with that.