Directed by:
Maciej KawulskiCinematography:
Bartek CierlicaCast:
Tomasz Włosok, Aleks Kurdzielewicz, Antoni Królikowski, Agnieszka Grochowska, Magdalena Lamparska, Krystyna Janda, Julia Wieniawa-Narkiewicz (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
A mysterious woman recounts the rise and fall of Nikodem "Nikoś" Skotarczak, one of the biggest gangsters in Poland's history. (Netflix)
Reviews (3)
I'd rather live a year as a tiger than twenty years as a turtle! After his last year’s How I Became a Gangster. True Story, Maciej Kawulski serves up another strongly narrative opus magnum and I think this guy is the Polish Scorsese, bobody currently has more form on the subject than this dude. Cinematically, this is a highly polished film, incredibly mature and timeless by Polish standards, the direction, the visuals, the music, the actors, the plot, all are of the highest quality. In three hours the director tells us the story of one of the greatest Polish gangsters, Nicodemus (he looks like Al Capone in the finale) and I have to say that a gangster with such character, respect, humility has never been seen in the film world. He wasn't a murderer or a backstabbing bastard, but a businessman/thief with intellect and class, and the whole story had me very captivated. My biggest complaint and a bit of a shame is that this isn't a classic gangster movie with murder, war, shooting, beating, which is what I like best and that is completely missing here, but there is so much sex, so many drugs, so much great music and compelling dialogue and great characters that it kept my attention completely without any problems even without action, something that happens to me about once a year, and I have to appreciate that. Netflix has been touting it since the beginning of the year and I probably won't see a better gangster movie this year. Story 5/5, Action 2/5, Humor 2/5, Violence 2/5, Fun 4/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 5/5, Atmosphere 5/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 4/5, Actors 5/5. 8.5/10.
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An incredibly confident piece of filmmaking, packed with sex and drugs, but it goes beyond that. Surprisingly, there are fewer deaths than you’d expect in a gangster movie. Nikodem Skotarczak is an incredibly fascinating character, and I found myself captivated by his life. Sure, the last hour was a bit predictable and dragged out his downfall longer than necessary, but the brilliant acting, amazing scenes, and excellent soundtrack kept me hooked. Everyone was fantastic, though Silvio, with his junkie stare, was on another level. An incredible experience, and a reminder of why I love Polish cinema.
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I liked how this story about the life of a well-known Polish gangster was narrated, but it was severely hampered by its exhausting running time. The opening already caused me discomfort with the worst version of Big in Japan I've ever heard. The creators later made up for it with Guano Apes and The Stranglers, so the soundtrack deserves a star. I don't want to be too clever here, but I think Tulia's song "Nieznajomy" would be perfect for the closing credits. The story of a gangster who was not really a gangster (but rather a money changer, fraudster, and thief) was quite intriguing. The creators introduced a large number of characters in the film and, since they didn't want to leave any of them without some basic background, it inflated the running time. There were moments when the number of minutes could have been significantly reduced. But overall, it worked very well. / Lesson learned: There are lines of work in which stubbornness can cause headlessness. 4*-
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