User Reviews

October 1934. Poland. Famous bank robber Kwinto (Jan Machulski, popular actor and father of director Juliusz Machulski) decided to quit his dangerous criminal job, but after his friend's death, he changed his mind and organized a burglary of the famous and well protected bank which belonged to his former partner in crime, backstabbing and double-crossing Kramer (Leonard Peetraszak). Kwinto designs a deliciously clever plan not to only rob the Kramer's bank but to make it look like Kramer himself did it. Juliusz Machulski's directing debut reminds the celebrated Oscar winner "The Sting" with its retro-style, elegant brilliance, and wonderful use of music - and I am not sure which movie I like better, American or Polish.

This film is not only one of the best ever made in Poland, this is the work that was and is extremely popular in my country, Russia. Elegant humor, brilliant script, impeccable play of all actors made this film a classic which it fairly remains to be now. It's hard to believe that it was filmed in 1982, in the middle of the political and social turmoil which besotted Poland that time, the country was on the brink of a civil war, but one will never even guess it while watching the movie. It's all thanks to the genius of Juliusz Machulski, the director, script writer and the brother of Jan Machulski who played the main hero, Kwinto. The film takes place in the 1930's, before the war and when Poland was still rich and booming. Kwinto is a famous bank robber, as well as a prominent jazz trumpeter (the soundtrack to the film is another winner; main theme is a sheer elegant Dixie tune). He comes back from the prison and learns that one of his friends is killed, that his wife had gone to another man, and that the greedy and mean bank director Gustav Kramer is in fact the very man who had helped Kwinto to go to jail and who had helped his friend to be killed. Thus, the revenge starts. Kwinto is helped by his old pal Dunczyk, extremely funny and smart crook, two slightly silly but workaholic bandits and a beautiful lady Natasza, played by then young and now very famous Elzbieta Zajacowna. The whole gang starts a devilishly clever plan and finally Kwinto achieves his main aim – money is returned to all victims of Kramer's black deeds, Kramer himself is in prison, and the happy gang is merrily celebrating the event. This is a pale and colorless description; you really have to see it to feel the brisk Polish humor, comic gags, and unbelievable twists of plot. Watch it; this is the brilliant classic of Soviet era Polish cinema – breezy, fresh and utterly smart

The movie is like a delicate puzzle. A jigsaw, the elements of which are being gradually attached one to another, bit by bit. The style of the director impresses me greatly: more than a decade ago I watched "Deja Vu" and that turned out to be an extremely enjoyable experience too. That director knows how to manipulate the viewer's feelings. At one moment you are all way down and frustrated (here I was in distress when I noticed that metal object left by the robbers – damn, I thought they "f***ed up") and at another you get big and absolutely unexpected surprises that come in hordes (the Negro, the Natasha, the big dog, the flat, the alibi, etc.).

I'm wondering if the second movie is of the same quality – soon I shall hopefully find it out. The actors' performances are very natural: nobody is fighting in "matrix" style and nobody is showing off by shooting the whole supply of ammo into baddies. The four crooks, who are the main characters of this picture, are quite nice. The crime they are committing is understandable and can be justified by the standards of down-to-earth human conscience. Though I think that I watched this film attentively, I still cannot get at least one machination shown (the one with the fingerprints). It means I will have to re-watch this comedy again and I've got nothing against it, while the movie is a real treat.

My vote is 10 out of 10 – let me proclaim that this is the best crime film I have seen so far. "Pulp Fiction" has no chance: it is like a teen music video if compared to this clever cinema. Thank you for attention.