Vabank

In Warsaw in 1934 Kwinto, a safecracker, comes out of prison planning to retire. Then he learns that his old partner was set up and killed by a bank director, and instead of retiring he builds a plan. The aim is not only to take the money but to have the man convinced he committed the robbery himself. Juliusz Machulski made his first film in the rhythm of American heist comedies and thereby created a genre with almost no precedent in Poland at the time. Thirties Warsaw, the jazz and the costumes carry the mood, with music by Henryk Kuźniak. Jan Machulski plays Kwinto and is the director's father. It was a large success in Poland and a sequel followed. Who it is for: viewers who like heist films and Eastern European genre cinema. Who it is not for: anyone wanting realism, since the plan works flawlessly.