early kubrick's love


in certain moments this film reminds me of kubrick's paths of glory...

there are a number of similarities (and with my experience on these boards) please don't ask me to list them as i dont have time for that :)

the reference that struck me was wajda's use of Ewa Krzyzewska... the way she was literally pulled by hand reminds me of kubrick's German singer at the end of Paths of Glory. she was played by Christiane Harlan who kubrick went on to marry. Now, Ewa doesn't do any singing in ashes and diamonds, that type of performance we see earlier by another character (though, in a somewhat different style for sure)... it is Ewa that reminds me of Christiane Harlan and i wonder if Wajda had Christiane in mind. as it is Ewa's character's name is Krystyna which is quite close. then again these are common names and could be a coincidence but by the way Ewa moved, her body language also reads Christiane Harlan. To me, this is a reference to Paths of Glory and isn't the other way around since according to imdb kubrick's film was made a year earlier, or at least before ashes and diamonds.

id be surprised if the above points were coincidences because i believe kubrick returned the compliment about 4 years later with lolita... the death of peter sellers character with the sheet and painting reminds me of Maciek's death with the bedsheet... furthermore, peter sellers play a piano tune which is exactly the same as the piano tune in ashes and diamonds... hmmm.

as for ashes and diamonds... its my favourite wajda film and find it difficult to convince others of watching it through... the first 45 minutes or so is very slow... and i think if some of the sub-plot was trimmed, and the pace was fastened a little, then it'd be better received... as for me, i dont have any problems with the slowness... i think this style complemented the quiet mood before the storm/fireworks/murder...

Carpe Diem

reply

[deleted]

I also thought of "Paths of Glory" while watching this film, specifically some of the scenes in the bar with Krzyzewska. Other than Kubrick, I was reminded of many filmmakers while watching: Fellini (for the imagery, particularly the Christian imagery), Renoir (for the balancing comedy, tragedy, farce, politics, etc) and Nicholas Ray (for the character study). Did other filmmakers pop into anyone's head while watching this? Indeed it is a great film, and I think it inspired the style violence that Coppola used in the Godfather movies.

reply

Hi All,

I only watched this at the weekend as Film Four in the UK are showing all 3 films in Wajda's trilogy-I'm afraid that I missed the other-but now wished I hadn't-for I very impressed with "Ashes".

Orson Welles kept springing into my mind when watching this one I must say-the deep focus shots of kane et al and also Touch of Evil is in there somewhere-particularly the scenes at the end -mind you I don't know who's film was first to tell you the truth.

Also was Godard a fan ?-I see hints of Belmondo in "A Bout de Souffle" in there somewhere as well.

All in all..I was most impressed and it requires another viewing..

reply

The main influence from a purely filmic point of view would be Ford, of course -- something Wajda freely admits.

Like Kurosawa, he thinks through every set-up, not just as an asthetic criteria, but thinking how it advances and promotes the story.

He also mentions Wyler and Welles -- but to me, the Ford influence is quite visible with his general antipathy towards reverse over-the-shoulder shots in favor of long takes from a single POV...

ls

reply

Wajda mentioned the cinematography was inspired by Gregg Toland's work for Citizen Kane, in terms of deep focus and low angle shots capturing the ceilings.

Toland also worked for Ford (The Long Voyage Home, The Grapes of Wrath) and Wyler (These Three, Come and Get It, Dead End, Wuthering Heights, The Westerner, The Little Foxes, The Best Years of Our Lives).

reply

I kept thinking of Renoir, too. Renoir is probably a bit more of a humanist than Wajda, but both men share a concern for the way that the great wars remade Europe, and both show understanding for the men on both sides of conflicts. Just as Renoir's POWs are good men, Grand Illusion's Baron von Rauffenstein is a good man. Just as Maciek is generally a good guy, and his victim/oppressor Szczuka seems like a decent man himself. The scene in Ashes and Diamonds where everyone at the hotel dances one last time had a mock-happiness and a solemnity about it that really reminded me of the dancing skeletons in Renoir's The Rules of the Game.

reply

so true, this movie had and air of Kubrick so to speak

great film




I Worship The Goddess Amber Tamblyn


reply

Jean Pierre Melville came to mind

What's Made Milwaukee Famous Has made a fool out of me.

reply

[deleted]