Vinci

Colour, 35 mm
Poland, 2004, 110 min
Section: East of the West - competitive
Oficiální stránky: www.vinci.pl

Synopsis

Notorious art thief Cuma is released from prison for health reasons. Gruby the fence arranged things because he is planning the heist of the century. His goal is the jewel of Cracow’s Czartoryski Museum — Da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine — which is about to return from an exhibition in Japan. Cuma immediately gets down to business. He approaches Julian, an explosives expert who owes him one. But Julian is now a cop and only accepts the offer in order to prevent the crime. Gruby asks art forger Hagen to make a copy of the famed work, but Hagen recommends a young restorer named Magda. At about this time, Police Commissioner Wilk sits up and takes notice. He reckons that Cuma’s release wasn’t just accidental.... As in his famed debut, Machulski relies on an eccentric idea, a precisely unfolded storyline and witty dialogue.

About the director

Juliusz Machulski (b. 1955, Olsztyn), director, screenwriter, actor and producer, graduated from the Lodz Film School and is president of the Polish Film Academy. His debut crime comedy, Va Banque (Vabank, 1981), won several domestic and international awards, as did the sci-fi comedy Sexmission (Seksmisja, 1983). He went on to receive praise from both domestic juries and audiences for his comedies Va Banque II (Vabank II, czyli riposta, 1984), Kingsize (Kingsajz, 1987), Déjà Vu (1989) and V.I.P. (1991). Then he surprised his fans with a period drama, The Squadron (Szwadron, 1992), and Girl Guide (1995), which focuses of the hectic lives of city kids. In Kiler (Kiler, 1997), and the following Two Kilers (Kilerów 2-óch, 1999), he parodied underworld stereotypes. The comedies Money Isn’t Everything (Pieniądze to nie wszystko, 2001) and Superproduction (Superprodukcja, 2002) expose the decay of morals in the countryside and the showbiz world respectively. With Vinci (2004) he returns to the poetics of his renowned debut.