From left to right: Witkacy, Malinowski, Conrad and Żeleński
Niebezpieczni Dżentelmeni ((The) Dangerous Gentlemen) is a Polish crime comedy directed by Maciej Kawalski, which premiered on the 14th of October 2022 and was released to movie theatres in Poland on the 20th of January 2023. The story focuses on doctor and poet Tadeusz Boy Żeleński, artist Stanisław "Witkacy" Witkiewicz, writer and former sailor Joseph Conrad and anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski (Yes, they're all real people) who, after finding a dead body in Witkacy's house after a drug-filled party, must find out who it once belonged to and who commited the murder to clear their name, getting into the crossfire of a conflict between the bolsheviks and PPS (Polska partia socjalistyczna (Polish Socialist Party)) in the process.The main gimmick of the movie is that it bills itself as a story that "didn't happen, but could have", as most of the main characters are historical.
This film provides examples of:
- Artistic Stimulation: Witkacy is quite fond of stimulating himself using psychadelics.This doesn't stop him from calling the artists on the mountain "drunkards and drug addicts" for not being sober enough to remember what happened at the party where Dr. Żeleński had supposedly been murdered.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Gangsters hunting for Żeleński are killed in one scene, when they meet Żeleński who they thought was dead. First died from heart attack caused by shock and second by horse cart
- Cool Old Guy: Joseph Conrad seems (even to Żeleński) like an old, weak man, but as a former sailor and great duelist, he qualifies quite well.
- Dirty Communists: bolsheviks are one of villains
- Double Take: When Piłsudski shows what military equipment was bought for the money Malinowski gave him at the party, he does this as he gets to the accordion, which he yells at his soldiers for ordering.
- False Flag Operation: Marquess Boy’s assassination was made by bolsheviks leaving note blaming PPS. PPS later removed this note and left another note blaming bolsheviks.
- Gatling Good: Piłsudski forces the Bolsheviks to surrender during the final confrontation with the huge help of a gatling gun.
- Historical Domain Character – Most of characters are historical. Most notable are Vladimir Lenin and his wife Nadezhda Krupskaya.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: A non-villainous example. None of Piłsudski's troopers can hit a scarecrow-like dummy during their shooting practice. Finally, one of them shoots a tree behind which falls over and hits the dummy. Piłsudski considers the training a success.
- Mad Artist: Just like he was perceived in real life, Witkacy is one of these here (though the work itself points out it being a bit exaggerated in tales about him).
- No Sympathy: After one of the PPS' boys is gunned down in the final confrontation in Piłsudski's presence, the moustachioed revolutionary simply remarks that he "always thought he was too tall" and continues fighting the Bolsheviks.
- Pocket Protector: Żeleński's copy of Voltaire's "Candide" stops a bullet from a bolshevik assasin, allowing him to survive the planned attempt on his life.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Tadeusz Żeleński was considered dead, when really killed was his Identical Stranger.
- Signature Laugh: Piłsudski has a deep, jovial, kind of forced-sounding laugh.
- Stoners Are Funny: Witkacy, who was famous from Artistic Simulations is main comic relief.
- Sword Cane: Conrad has one and uses it to get free of bolsheviks by performing Diagonal Cut on them.
- Unholy Matrimony: Lenin and his wife Nadezhda: the main antagonists, but also a loving married couple.
