Vabank

7.9
1981 1 hr 44 min Comedy , Crime

October 1934. Poland. Famous bank robber Kwinto decided to quit his dangerous criminal job, but after his friend's death, he changed his mind and organized a burglary of famous and well protected bank which belonged to his former partner in crime, backstabbing and double-crossing Kramer. Kwinto designs a clever plan not to only rob the Kramer's bank but to make it look like Kramer himself did it.

  • Cast:
    Jan Machulski , Leonard Pietraszak , Witold Pyrkosz , Jacek Chmielnik , Krzysztof Kiersznowski , Ewa Szykulska , Zdzisław Kuźniar

Reviews

TinsHeadline
1982/10/01

Touches You

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Dirtylogy
1982/10/02

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

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AshUnow
1982/10/03

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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Candida
1982/10/04

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

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Maziun
1982/10/05

This is a debut movie from Juliusz Machulski , Polish director who is in Poland often called "Polish Spielberg" . He specialize in making comedies and "Vabank" is one of his best movies. It's a movie about con artists set in Warsaw in the 30's , before World War II.The movie was made in the 80's in Poland during the communism , so the budget wasn't too big and the art-direction might look a little cheap for modern audiences . It's the script that is the star of movie . Full of Polish brisk humor and many small twists it's a pleasure to watch . The final is really surprising . It's also interesting that main hero is played by Jan Machulski father of the director and that the opening credits appear after 7 minutes of the movie.Add to that a good direction , professional acting (good Jan Machulski as the hero , great Leonard Pietraszak as the villain) , elegant and catchy music by Henryk Kuźniar and a lot of charm – "Vabank" is must see for all movie lovers .I give it 8/10.

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kurciasbezdalas
1982/10/06

This movie is not well known but it's really worth watching. I don't know much about Polish cinema but this is probably one of the best Polish movies. It's very entertaining crime comedy. The budged of this film is pretty low but the plot, acting and directing compensate it. There isn't much jokes but the ending was really funny. It's also good as a crime movie. I liked the dialogs between criminals and also the way they planed bank robbery. If you get a chance to see this movie, don't waste it because it's really interesting (althau it may appear a little boring in the beginning). I also liked the style of these gangsters - the way they talked and worked reminded me of some Hollywood crime movies.

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Andrei Pavlov
1982/10/07

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.

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Tomasz Wójtowicz
1982/10/08

I must say that I'm little dissatisfied reading these "plot summaries" where authors say "Kwinto has only revenge in his mind". That is misconception quite common. In fact the film director shows it clearly enough to learn that Kwinto has no revenge in mind. It is likely he will accept the money from Kramer if only Kramer haven't killed his best friend. This murder is the only reason why he decide to take revenge on Kramer and we can see it clearly.The film itself is a real masterpiece. One can feel as if it was really made in the thirties not fifty years later. Also the language used in the film would be found archaic today but it is how they were talking in the 30's. The plot is dynamic and interesting without any "blackholes of boredom" which are common in many polish films.

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