Ashes and Diamonds

  • February 15, 2014 / 16:00
  • February 26, 2014 / 19:00

Director: Andrzej Wajda
Cast: Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzewska, Waclaw Zastrzezynski,Adam Pawlikowski, Bogumił Kobiela
Poland 103’, 1958, black and white

Polish with Turkish subtitles

This filmis the extraordinary final installment in Wajda’s war trilogy and an unquestionable masterpiece, a true landmark of postwar European cinema. With a screenplay by Jerzy Andrzejewski, based on his novel, the film is set on the last day of the war and the first day of peace, when a young Home Army soldier (Zbigniew Cybulski, in his most famous role) is assigned to assassinate a Communist official. More important than the carefully etched political nuances in this vision of a Poland poised between past and a future defined by its postwar regime are the moral dilemmas faced by individuals in a time of transition, always treated with great humanity by Wajda. Cybulski’s way-cool performance – complete with dark shades, match cocked between his teeth and easy banter with the ladies – earned him the title, the “James Dean of Poland.” 

Canal

Canal

Ashes and Diamonds

Ashes and Diamonds

Night Train

Night Train

Mother Joan of the Angels

Mother Joan of the Angels

Innocent Sorcerers

Innocent Sorcerers

Knife in the Water

Knife in the Water

The Saragossa Manuscript

The Saragossa Manuscript

Trailer

Ashes and Diamonds

The Battle of Varna

The Battle of Varna

Over the years of 1864 through 1876, Stanisław Chlebowski served Sultan Abdülaziz in Istanbul as his court painter. As it was, Abdülaziz disposed of considerable artistic talents of his own, and he actively involved himself in Chlebowski’s creative process, suggesting ideas for compositions –such as ballistic pieces praising the victories of Turkish arms. 

Galatasaray, an Institution of Institutions | Besim F. Dellaloğlu

Galatasaray, an Institution of Institutions | Besim F. Dellaloğlu

Is Istanbul a single city? Will Istanbul too, be one day one day divided into different sections, and numbered like the arrondisements of Paris? These are tough questions indeed! 

Paula Rego in Istanbul!

Paula Rego in Istanbul!

We, by which I mean some of my classmates and I, knew about Paula Rego. I’ll have to admit, I didn’t know where Rego was from or even where in Europe Portugal was. I thought she was English. Let me tell you how I first heard the very un-English sounding name “Paula Rego”