The Debt (1999) User Reviews

Leaves an Incredible Impression

[drunkrusski · 9/10 · 17 December 2004]

This movie is amazing. I have never heard of it before I accidentally ran into it at the video store and I am very glad I picked it up. Although the story is fairly simple, the way it is portrayed is amazing. The dialogue of the characters, their actions, the scenery. Everything sets the mood of a very emotional film. By the end you start to feel like you are one of the characters and picturing what you would do in this situation.

The plot is basically a few start-up polish businessmen become mixed up with the mob and end up owing a debt to them. After the friends refuse to pay it, the mob starts to threaten them and their families.

it could happen to any of us...

[inioi · 8/10 · 28 November 2015]

Remarkable movie with a transcendent (and frightening) content: How far a normal and reasonable person could go when facing a critical situation.

One of the positive features of the movie is it's low budget, so the director can focus on deliver us a raw, shocking and realistic movie.

The point here is something which we are not willing to face, but as the matter of fact, it happened to a couple of regular guys.

As you can imagine, the approach of this movie is quite philosophical and psychological. A good chance to looking at ourselves in the mirror as human beings.

8/10

Will make you think

[kausix777 · 7/10 · 25 September 2013]

Two friends, Adam and Stefanek, land in a soup as they are looking for a business loan and Stefanek runs into an ex-neighbour of his, Gerard. He tells Gerard his business plan and Gerard offers to get a buyer.

However, the deal doesn't work. Yet, Gerard keeps harassing the two friends to recover his costs.

Realities dawn slowly, adding to the mild suspense of the film. The acting is top class as the two friends face unusual and unexpected situations and try to come out of them unharmed.

This is an atmospheric, cold movie. The least it would do is to make you think. What are the options? What are the alternatives?

Rare achievement

[tionfiul-1 · 10/10 · 1 December 2004]

Forget special effects. Forget complicated story lines with killers looming in the dark while desperate Nicolle Kidmans scream their minds away in front of the cameras. Forget your run-of-the mill Hollywood film made and remade a hundred times. See 'The Debt' instead. This little and unfortunately unknown Polish film doesn't need any of the above artifacts to impress you: only the true story it was based on, a hand-held camera, and a couple of strong performances. The rest makes itself. And what you get is mind-numbing. The film might well contain the most believable murder scene I have ever seen depicted on screen outside of war contexts. Realism is so stark it makes you feel you're part of the storyline itself. You watch this film unfold and you might as well be watching your own life, God-forbid should you ever end up in a situation like that of the characters'. Highly recommended!

Chilling and psychologically painful

[airen · 10/10 · 12 June 2000]

This is a masterpiece of a movie that will make you think twice about trusting your "friends". The fact that it is based upon a true story adds a whole other dimension to it. Interestingly enough, I read that the movie moved the Polish courts to reopen the criminal case upon which it was based. Truly a pity that it was not submitted to Cannes or Oscars, because it had a good shot for both.

Not an easy movie to watch, but it is a true masterpiece.

[andrew-133 · 10/10 · 17 June 2000]

Based on true events, the movie shows the dilemma faced by law-abiding people confronted by ruthless, petty criminals. The Police is simply not interested - there is not enough evidence to get a conviction, so why bother. In the meantime, the victims and their families are being gradually destroyed as the criminals are trying to force them to re-pay an imaginary debt. This movie will make you think - how would you react - what would you do differently to avoid the final tragedy. Excellent acting, strong plot, high quality DVD with excellent English subtitles - well worth watching.

Fabulous film, sad truth

[zmigy · 10/10 · 19 April 2000]

`Dlug' is a psychological thriller/drama based on a true story. Two young entrepreneurs from Warsaw wanted to start up manufacturing of Italian scooters in Poland but they needed money in order to get things going. After the bank refused to provide them with a loan, they thought their whole plan would never work out. Then Stefan met an old friend of his Gerard and things changed drastically. At first Gerard promised that he would help them out financially with a loan. The two young soon-to-be businessmen were excited about this prospect yet they later decided that he was asking for too much share in their future profits and dropped the proposal. This is where things took a turn for the worse. Gerard started harassing them for the money that he never lent them, saying that he was already too far into the negotiation process to back out. Everyday it got worse as Adam and Stefan found out that Gerard was obviously a member of the mafia. He tormented and threatened them to the point where they did not know what to do. They knew the police was helpless because they couldn't even provide the law enforcers with the man's last name- and what charges could they file against him without any evidence? As this is a true story, it must have its real life consequences. The two men Adam and Stefan are currently in jail with sentences for 20 years imprisonment each…how did this happen you might ask? Watch the movie to find out. This film is primarily about right and wrong choices, about what one will do when under pressure, without a straight-forward way out, without hope. This movie is one after which the audience will leave the cinema and talk about for weeks. It deals with real places, real life people, and the atmosphere that director Kszysztof Krauze has captured is eerie and enthralling. The acting is magnificent and the camera work makes it look very realistic. I personally recommend this movie to everyone who wants a movie-going experience that they will remember for a long time. But be warned- this is by no means a film for the faint-hearted.

This may be the best picture of 1999.

[ogqozo · 10/10 · 26 September 2005]

This one is actually shocking. It's based on a true story, but it's directed as well as Hitchcock would do it - the first scene makes you tense and the whole movie keeps you like this. You don't stop thinking "why it has ended like this (after the first scene there's a retrospective)? what has happened?". The director Krzysztof Krauze plays with you decently, because you make your own vision of what will happen and after awhile you see you were not right. But "Dlug" is not only thrilling. It has a lot to think about. Some say that there are a few illogical things in the scenario, but anyway it seems realistic. There is no happy end, and there is no good character in whole picture. Everyone makes tragic go even more tragic. As good as it gets, actors make great creations, especially Andrzej Chyra as the "terrorist" (I live in Poland and believe me that's actually how illegal borrowing does finish).

very realistic, sad and frightening

[dollenhond · 10/10 · 2 September 2003]

This movie was on television. The story is simple. Two friends get involved with a guy who wants money from them. They pay, but he wants more. This goes on and on. It's them or he (and his strong buddy).

The way it is filmed is very realistic and frightening. it can happen to everybody. At first, Gerard seems very nice. But he'll change.

Makes you think.

jump into something too quickly and you never know what could happen

[lee_eisenberg · 9/10 · 24 July 2017]

Krzysztof Krauze's "Dług" ("The Debt" in English) is an intense movie in and of itself, focusing on a pair of men whose involvement with a gangster has some VERY unpleasant consequences. But even more unnerving is that it's based on a true story (read about Sławomir Sikora and Artur Bryliński). It sounds as though the movie is also an allusion to Poland's rapid transition to a market economy in the 1990s, which was essentially a shock doctrine. But moreover, anyone could make the mistake that these men make in an attempt to get rich.

I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it's a good cautionary tale about moneymaking schemes that spin out of control. If your aim is simply to get rich, expect some bad things to happen. The Gordon Gekko types may idolize greed, but what's it done for the rest of us?