Date: 19 November 2007 23:29:20
This is the title of a Polish film I went to see recently (Popiól i diament). It was made in 1958 and was billed as being a “multi-award winning film which signalled the renaissance of Polish cinema...and remains to this day one of the finest achievements of Eastern European cinema....with Zbigniew Cybulski imparting a unique sensibility, a youthful frustration which reflects Poland's turbulent history, as a result of which he was often described as the ‘Polish James Dean.' ”
I didn't really work out how the title related to the plot - and come to that - I didn't really work out the plot either. It was either incredibly complex and I missed most of the intrigue or incredibly simple and I was waiting in vain for it to become deeper.
As my Polish extends to “good day”, “thank you” “yes” and “no”, I was obliged to read the subtitles. Frankly, these did nothing to enhance the enjoyment of the film as the standard was completely erratic. Some were wonderfully colloquial and correct, some were very stilted and clearly translated by a non-native speaker but conveyed the general message and others were simply bizarre - a complete tangle of inappropriate words and phrases.
All in all, rather frustrating. I can't decide whether or not to see it again. On the one hand, I want to get to the bottom of why it is considered to be so wonderful - on the other hand, I don't feel I can afford another 103 minutes of my life pursuing the issue. Diamonds - yes, Cybulski is/was a handsome fellow and I should feel grateful I wasn't forced to watch some ugly bod for that length of time - but Ashes - definitely. It was grey, boring and burnt out - as was my brain when I left the cinema.