The liminal world in Andrzej Wajda's Ashes and diamonds

This paper examines boundaries of the world depicted in Ashes and Diamonds, a film directed by Andrzej Wajda which is considered one of the most significant works of European cinema. Drawing on classical theories of liminality by Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner, I explore how the concept of liminality operates within the film. Wajda constructs a threshold space that is evident both in the narrative structure and in cinematic techniques. The characters - particularly the protagonist Maciek Chelmicki - as well as the chronotope itself, are immersed in a kind of a boundary zone, situated at a historical and existential crossroads. The liminal world of Ashes and Diamonds can be interpreted through a series of antitheses that define the edges of this threshold: death and life/love, the world of the living and the dead (surface and underground), heroism and betrayal, war and peace - all converging in the marginal space of a mythical night that engulfs the entire film. The nocturnal, marginal time serves as a backdrop for the transition of individuals - both the main character and the collective character of the nation. This study identifies boundary elements within the film and defines the characteristics of liminality as manifested in both space and its characters.