7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Maciek, a young Resistance fighter, is ordered to kill Szczuka, a Communist district leader, on the last day of World War II. Though killing has been easy for him in the past, Szczuka was a fellow soldier, and Maciek must decide whether to follow his orders.
Starring: Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzewska, Waclaw Zastrzezynski, Adam Pawlikowski, Bogumil KobielaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 67% |
War | 7% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Polish: LPCM Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Andrzej Wajda's "Ashes and Diamonds" (1958) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include archival audio commentary by critic Annette Insdorf; archival interviews with Andrzej Wajda, second director Janusz Morgenstern, and critic Jerzy Plazewski; behind the scenes newsreel; and more. In Polish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The assassin
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ashes and Diamonds arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
A decade ago, we reviewed this European release of Ashes and Diamond which was sourced from a 2K restoration. This upcoming release is sourced from a recent 4K restoration of the film.
I viewed the new restoration earlier tonight and my impression is that it offers an all-around superior presentation of the film. On the previous release, there were obvious traces of filtering corrections that made certain parts of the film look a tad too smooth. The new restoration handles these areas a lot better and as a result many of the light/dark nuances look far more convincing. Virtually all close-ups have dramatically stronger organic qualities as well. However, the existing elements reveal obvious limitations as well, which is likely the main reason why the previous restoration reveals traces of filtering. Indeed, it appears that on the previous restoration someone was trying to rebalance the visuals as best as possible, but the adjustments proved too strong because there is content with unique ageing and other inherited limitations. In other words, on the new restoration the grain is much better exposed and distributed, but softer areas with inherited limitations remain. The grayscale is lovely. The blacks look solid yet very natural while the ranges of grays and whites are nicely balanced. Image stability is very good, but some transitions could be a tad shaky. (See the opening). The film looks healthy. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Polish LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The audio is clear and stable. Some minor fluctuations in terms of dynamic balance can be heard, but they usually appear whenever the audio becomes a tad 'thin' as well. I think that virtually all of them are inherited limitations though, so more than likely there is very little room for additional optimizations. I think that the overall quality of the audio is very strong.
A classic of Polish cinema, Andrzej Wajda's Ashes and Diamonds is a remarkably bold film that offers a glimpse at the unusual socio-political vacuum that developed immediately after the end of WW2 and shortly before the country's occupation by the Soviets. This upcoming release is sourced from a very nice recent 4K restoration and features the best technical presentation of the film that I have seen to date. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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