Charlatan

Jan Mikolášek was not among those who made great history, so he is not part of the great history either. Besides a handful of old folks and descendants of those he treated, no one knew about him until now. Your acceptance of the film largely depends on the fact that you do not know his true fate, because Marek Epstein adapted his life's periphery in a Hollywood manner, and Mikolášek himself would probably be shocked by what he was able to extract from his biography. Agnieszka Holland is an experienced European-level director, and under her leadership, a film was created that is worth seeing, one that is able to create a dramatic arc, captivate the viewer, and in which there are a number of scenes that will please cinephiles. This is significantly helped by the cast, led by Ivan Trojan, who gives his best performance, and it is quite possible that this is his strongest film role to date. If I have to criticize something, then it would be the screenplay, which does not adhere to logic and historical facts, right, Marek? The deeply religious Mikolášek would certainly not help with an abortion, let alone for such obscure reasons, and the state power would not need a monstrous trial with such a convoluted conspiracy where it could use bureaucratic tools for his elimination. I would encourage people to go see this film in the movie theater, it deserves it. Overall impression: 75%. (11/10/2020)

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)

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)

After a long time I went to the movie theater to see a domestic film and after watching it I know I couldn't have chosen better. It never ceases to amaze me how wonderfully everything fit together - from Mark Epstein's thoughtful screenplay and Agnieszka Holland's uncompromising direction to Martin Štrba's amazingly sensitive lighting and camera work, to the disturbingly dosed music. I must also not forget the great acting performances of all the actors, among whom Ivan Trojan excels. The last time he got under my skin like this was in a period drama In the Shadow. Josef Trojan also impressed me a lot, and I had big doubts about his talent until recently, but now I am sufficiently convinced that he has talent like his father. I couldn't believe my eyes at how similar the facial expressions were. However, it is also worth mentioning the excellent Juraj Loj as Mikolášek's life partner and the touchingly human Jaroslava Pokorná. Of the downright negative characters, I was most chilled by Miroslav Hanuš, who played the slimy minion of the regime to perfection. Charlatan shows, among other things, the monstrosity of communist thinking and the actions of the rulers of the time. I have to admit that, immediately after the screening, I was completely emotionally shattered, and even now many of my feelings are still reverberating. The story of the contradictory healer Jan Mikolášek is so impressively filmed that I want to find out more about him. Certain ambiguities in the film actually invite that. This is not a bad thing, quite the opposite. When a film sparks my interest in the fate of the person it depicts, then I'm sure I haven't wasted my time. (95%) (24/08/2020)

Like Mr. Jones, Agnieszka Holland's previous film, I don't think Charlatan would be a pure five stars... if it weren't for Ivan Trojan. I already know he's a great actor, but he outdoes himself with what he does here, under the baton of a world class director. I searched my memory for the last time I was so impressed by the performance of a Czech actor in a Czech film, and I ended up with Bolek Polívka in Forgotten Light. Ivan Trojan gives an incredible performance of the caliber of Rudolf Hrušínský or Miroslav Macháček, and he is not Trojan, but Mikolášek, whom you alternately admire and hate. But Josef Trojan, whose casting is based on far more than his resemblance to his father, is also very good, and I liked the uncluttered script and the likewise sparse direction. The ending disgusted me and it didn't matter that it was contrived. I understood why what happened happened, and why who did what they did, but it didn't make the heartbreak any easier. (30/08/2020)