Summary
This is a serious, well-weaved Polish crime thriller with a clear vision.
The selling point of Justice (or Napad) could not be more explicit. This movie is a natural, gritty, old-fashioned crime drama born in Poland. Director Michal Gazda has created a murky world with a peculiar character and an in-depth, fictional investigation that applies layers reasonably without boring the viewer.
And I was certainly not bored. The premise of Justice is nothing short of complicated. It’s the script that makes it more than it is. The story follows discharged police officer Tadeusz Gadacz (played by Olaf Lubaszenko), who is given a chance to regain his career by capturing a bank robbery crew. He is joined by young police inspector Aleksandra Janicka, and they are against the clock to conclude the case before it’s under scrutiny.
(Layered above, the story is politics and the privatization of two large banks as part of a merger, which is in the public interest.)
Let’s start with the male lead character, Tadeusz Gadacz. There’s always an implication that he has a dirty past. The minister advises that he take on the investigation, but there are slight comments about his dealings with the past and his political allegiances (on a few occasions, it’s implied he’s worked with “commies,” suggesting he has communist ties).
But the film sells Tadeusz Gadacz incredibly well as a highly skilled investigator with questionable methods. He’s a man with little to say but a lot to do. A man where you can tell, purely by how he navigates each scene, that his life is complicated. His figure resembles a disassociated, miserable man, but he understands how to figure out a high-profile case. That’s his defining talent.
Without Olaf Lubaszenko playing this character to a tee, this movie may not have been an excellent feature.
And then there’s Aleksandra Janicka, a young investigator who’s implied to be inexperienced (or less experienced than her counterpart). She represents the youth of the world, the latest standards in the judicial and criminal investigatory process, and the perspective of the audience, looking at her counterpart, curious about his aggressive and bordering methods that may not pass in the modern world.
The cops in Justice complement each other. The characters’ opposing spectrums bring an eye-watering film experience to the crime genre.
This Polish film is not for everyone. It’s slow, methodical, and often complicated, but there’s always an objective in mind that keeps the story moving. I found myself, on several occasions, wondering what was going through Gadacz’s mind, but he’s an almost impossible character study until the end when he provides a unique perspective on his life.
The premise involves a primary suspect, Kacper Surmiak (played by Jedrzej Hycnar). Unfortunately, facing Gadacz is a nightmare for any suspect in this case, and his unique efforts to solve the case (due to the pressure on him) become highly unconventional.
I was not put off by the runtime or the slow-moving pace. The director does a superb job with the camera, making the world as dull, grainy, and depressing as possible. There’s not a lot of light in this film as it relies on the reality of crime, which is a grim world. Justice is a well-curated crime thriller, and it’s genuinely worth watching.
Read More: Justice Ending Explained
