Déjà Vu (1988)

Déjà Vu DVD Cover Country Poland USSR Directed by Juliusz Machulski Release Date 1988 Language Russian English Polish Studio Odessa Film Studio Studio Filmowe Zebra Main Cast Character Actor Johnny Pollack Jerzy Stuhr Mikita Nechyporuk Vladimir Golovin Mishka Yaponchik Nikolai Karachentsov Klara Glushko Galina Petrova George Pereplyotchikov Oleg Shklovsky Afrodita Pereplyotchikova Liza Machulska Petro Krivonoschenko Viktor Stepanov

Déjà Vu (original Polish title Deja vu, Russian title Dezha vyu) is a 1988 Polish-Soviet criminal comedy directed by Juliusz Machulski. The plot is set in 1925. Chicago mobster Mick Nitsch (who is actually Russian-born and named Mikita Nechyporuk) (Vladimir Golovin) becomes a police informant in exchange for his freedom. He flees to Soviet Russia to escape vengeful mobsters whom he betrayed. The mob leaders send their best hitman, Johnny Pollack (Jerzy Stuhr), to the city of Odessa to take him out.

The following weapons were used in the film Déjà Vu (1988):

Handguns

Nagant M1895

When Pollack (Jerzy Stuhr) runs out of weapons, he disarms an actor in the role of a Tsarist Army officer (Oleg Fedulov) during filming of Battleship Potemkin, taking his Nagant M1895 revolver. Nagant revolvers are also seen during the shootout in Nechyporuk's illegal casino. The revolver is an anachronistic post-1930 version.

Nagant M1895 - 7.62x38N

An actor in the role of a Tsarist Army officer (Oleg Fedulov) carries a holstered Nagant revolver.

Pollack takes a Nagant from the said actor. Note the extended position of the ejector rod which is common for well-worn Nagants.

Pollack, dressed as the officer, threatens the hotel porter (Vitali Shapovalov).

Pollack loads the revolver with cartridges that he smuggled inside a collection of butterflies. These are not the Nagant's distinct 7.62x38mmR cartridges but rather more conventional pistol rounds.

Pollack aims at an escaping Nechyporuk. The ejector rod is now in the correct place.

Pollack holds his revolver during the filming of Battleship Potemkin's famous Odessa steps sequence. The ejector rod is again extended.

A criminal fires his Nagant during the illegal casino shootout.

1910 Mauser Pocket Pistol

Pollack (Jerzy Stuhr) uses a Mauser Model 1910 pocket pistol as a backup weapon.

1910 Mauser Pocket Pistol - 6.35x16mmSR

Pollack draws a Mauser Model 1910 pocket pistol that was hidden inside a book.

Pollack loads the magazine with (surprise!) .22LR cartridges.

Pollack readies the pistol.

Mauser Model 1910 pocket pistol in the candy box.

Unknown pistols

Several mobsters in the Chicago shootout sequence are armed with semi-auto pistols that are seen only at a distance and cannot be identified.

Submachine Guns

PPSh-41 (Mocked-Up as M1921AC Thompson)

Police and mobsters in the Chicago shootout sequence use M1921AC Thompson submachine guns. They are actually modified PPSh-41 submachine guns, equipped with barrels with fake cooling fins and Cutts compensators, and characteristic Thompson-style furniture. Despite the high similarity, they can still be distinguished from a distance between the magazine and trigger group. This scene was filmed in Poland; the "classic" gangster's "Tommy Gun" couldn't be procured and the Soviet PPSh had to be mocked-up for it.

PPSh-41 - 7.62x25mm Tokarev

Colt M1921AC Thompson with 50-round drum magazine - .45 ACP

Chicago police officers with fake "Thompsons".

Nechyporuk, alias Mick Nitsch (Vladimir Golovin), holds a fake "Thompson", taken from a wounded gangster (Jan Hencz).

M1928A1 Thompson

A M1928A1 Thompson SMG is used by Nechyporuk (Vladimir Golovin), Mishka Yaponchik (Nikolai Karachentsov) and later Pollack (Jerzy Stuhr). This same weapon changes hands several times. According to the the moviemakers, the screen gun was able to fire semi-auto only, and actors only mimicked firing while the sound of full auto fire was added and muzzle flashes imitated by pyrotechnics.

M1928A1 Thompson with a Stick Magazine - .45 ACP

Nechyporuk readies his Thompson. The stock is removed.

Nechyporuk puts the SMG back in the drawer. The removed stock is seen next to the Thompson.

Mishka Yaponchik assembles the Thompson...

...and aims it at a captured Pollack.

Pollack manages to capture the gun.

Close up view of the Thompson in Pollack's hands.

Pollack hunts for Nechyporuk in the balneotherapy clinic.

Another closeup of the Thompson.

Rifles

Mosin Nagant M1891/30

Mosin Nagant M1891/30 rifles with bayonets are seen in several scenes, notably on the shooting range, where Pollack (Jerzy Stuhr) shows real marksmanship, and during the filming of Battleship Polemkin.

Full-length Mosin Nagant M91/30 - 7.62x54mmR.

A Soviet border guard with a M91/30 rifle patrols the pier in Odessa.

Professor Babochkin (Vsevolod Safonov) is a very poor shooter.

A good view of the M91/30 rifle.

A good view of the M91/30 bayonet. The rifle is in the hands of shooting instructor (Nikolay Velichko).

Pollack reloads the rifle.

Pollack fires.

"Russian Army soldiers" with M91/30 rifles during Battleship Polemkin filming. The rifles used in this scene have the hoods on the front sight removed to make them look like original M1891 Dragoon rifles.

Mosin Nagant "Obrez"

A Mosin Nagant "obrez" is the weapon of Nechyporuk's henchman Shpan (Vladimir Nosyrev).

Mosin Nagant "obrez"

Shpan carries an "Obrez" on a sling.

Machine Guns

Maxim M1910

A Maxim M1910 is seen in Nechyporuk's hideout.

Maxim 1910, simplified version with smooth water jacket - 7.62x54mmR

Nechyporuk (Vladimir Golovin) with his Maxim. The muzzle cap is removed, exposing the probably deactivated barrel.

Other Weapons

Percussion Cap Musket

During the performing of Tosca at the Chicago Opera, soldiers escorting Mario Cavaradossi to the execution carry percussion cap muskets. The guns are most likely modern non-firing replicas, but it's hard to identify the base weapon.

There are two different versions of the musket: note the difference between the one at the far left and the one in center.

The barrel and lock plating resemble the ones seen on an Enfield Pattern 1853 but the lock itself looks different, and the screen guns lack any kind of rear sights.

Pollack's "Umbrella Gun"

Pollack (Jerzy Stuhr) used a custom gun disguised as an umbrella.

A close up view of the sound suppressor and sniper scope of the gun during the scene in the Chicago Opera.

Pollack disassembles his gun after a successful assassination.

Pollack assembles his weapon in an Odessa hotel.

The gun is muzzle-loading but use rifle cartridges that look like 7.92x57mm Mauser.

The barrel ends up bent and the gun can't be used.

Shotgun in Case

In one scene, the Armenian Polakyans family erroneously take Pollack for their long-lost relative. In the scene in the train, Aram Polakyan (Murad Janibekyan), who is chosen to escort a drunk Pollack, carries a case for a disassembled shotgun and a bandolier with shotgun shells.

Trivia

In the scene in Chicago, a police officer carries a holster for a TT-33.

A Nagant M1895 revolver in kirza (Russian type of artificial leather) holster of Soviet pattern.