Charlatan

A powerful story about an exceptional person and his cruel fate. It’s a great experience watching both Agnieszka Holland’s outstanding work and the two main protagonists in action. It’s good that this story inspired by real life has been given some space, reminding viewers of a time that mustn’t be forgotten. That people are a nasty species and that love shouldn’t be forbidden. And lastly, I would like to praise how she works with life and the great screenplay. (06/03/2021)

A drama of (almost) European parameters. The best scenes are definitely the ones with the young Mikolášek (the acting talent of the Trojan family is undeniable) and then the final act of the film when things really start to get rough. I admire Marek Epstein and Agnieszka Holland for how much of Mikolášek's life they managed to capture in a 110-minute film. Still, the way in which the "life and work" of Jan Mikolášek is presented has an air of ambiguity in some ways, and unfortunately that is definitely not a positive in this case. On the one hand, I applaud the fact that, alongside the portrait of the "poor man persecuted by the Nazis and the Communists", the filmmakers play out a very personal storyline in some passages and do not hesitate to portray Jan Mikolášek as a despicable manipulator and narcissistic egoist. Unfortunately, these motives remain largely unexploited and the viewer watches the gradual physical and moral decay of the main character with the absence of a corresponding conflict. Still, this is on the whole an above average piece of filmmaking that would find its place in some of the wider European top tier. (08/09/2020)

I was perhaps looking forward to Charlatan a little too much, given the strong subject matter and the people involved, and so I was a little disappointed in the outcome. From a technical standpoint, Charlatan is handled mostly well – the assured camera work and the unmistakable score are proof of that. The acting was, as expected, really convincing, without unnecessary theatricality. Besides the almost unquestionably excellent Ivan Trojan, I must not forget to mention the young Josef Trojan, who was a great second to his father, then the grounded performance of Jaroslava Pokorná, and last but not least the solid part of Juraj Loj, unknown to me so far. What bothered me about the film, however, was its narrative lack of coherence in several places, for example the kittens, which many have already mentioned, or especially the last minutes of the film. On the one hand, this is a bold and, by Czech standards, above-average film with some really evocative moments (the death of Zapotocky, the arrest by the Gestapo) that, alongside the "quackery", addresses same-sex relationships in the post-war era, but on the other hand, there were a few places where I just felt it was missing something and that it somewhat deprived me of the desired experience. A weaker four stars! (21/08/2020)

My rating is a bit biased, because any time I’m lucky enough to see a Czech film in a cinema outside our country, I'm touched and proud. Especially when it's in a place where I wouldn't expect to see on of our movies. So for me it was more about where and how I saw the film than what it was like. I liked the complex and ambiguous nature of the character of the charlatan, I liked the cinematography, but the atmosphere was at times a bit more uncomfortable than I would have liked. Because of that, and a few distracting scenes, I don't think I'm going to catch it when it airs on TV. PS: So I thought it was impossible for me to forget to rate a film here, but actually you can. Thanks, user, for reminding me of Charlatan with your review today. 3.5 stars. (18/09/2021)

The film greatly surprised me (in a good way). After my previous experience with Agnieszka Holland, I wasn’t getting my hopes up. The fact is that the success of the film was mainly thanks to the protagonist, who took a break from shooting commercials for the Czech Railways, and once again showed us what Trojan is made of. What annoyed me about the film was the terrible EU ass kissing (literally), since the intimate scenes between the two lead actors stuck out like a sore thumb and why was there a need for a direct shot of a bunch of soft bell-shaped objects? Absolutely irrelevant and Mrs. Holland didn’t score any points with me this time either. However, the atmosphere of the 1950s was well captured and I am only glad that I decided to watch Witches' Hammer again yesterday. Inquisition, Gestapo and StB - find ten differences. (08/01/2021)