Essential Art House: Ashes and Diamonds [Criterion Collection]

Like most of Polish director Andrzej Wajda's best films, Ashes and Diamonds draws on his personal experiences in the Resistance during World War II. Zbigniew Cybulski, the director's favorite leading man, plays a young underground fighter told to kill a Communist leader on the last day of the war. This blend of idealism and defeatism won numerous awards and brought Wajda international acclaim. The third of Wajda's trilogy of films about World War II, Ashes and Diamonds was preceded by A Generation (1954) and Kanal (1956).