In recent months, the Czech Republic has been resonated by the distinctive biographical drama The Charlatan by the prominent Polish director Agniezska Holland. The story of the controversial folk healer was shortlisted by the American Academy for the upcoming Oscar and was among the fifteen best international films.
In the Czech film inspired by the real destinies of the healer Jan Mikolášek, the title role alternates between the now famous Czech actor Ivan Trojan and his promising son Josef.
Thousands of people from all walks of life, including the most important political a nd cultural personalities, turned to Mikulášek for help over the course of several decades. Mikolášek is a person without a professional medical education, but with an extraordinary talent to diagnose and use herbs to treat diseases with which even doctors experts often cannot cope.
"The strongest is the film where the hero's work sticks, basically an organized health factory, where crowds of patients holding a bottle of their own urine patiently wait for Mikolášek to shake the liquid, examine it, pronounce a verdict and prescribe therapy. Fun, tragic and curious cases alternate from sample to sample…, “writes the well-known Czech film reviewer Mirka Spáčilová.
The Charlatan does not give instructions and clear answers. On the contrary, the more they dive into the black swamps of war and communist history, the more they ask questions. And in the finale, it's up to the viewer to relate to Mikolášek and his "miraculous" talent.
It was filmed in the Czech Republic, for example in the interesting West Bohemian town of Sušice and its beautiful surroundings, in Jaroměř in the north of the country near the Polish border and also in Prague.
Thousands of people from all walks of life, including the most important political a nd cultural personalities, turned to Mikulášek for help over the course of several decades. Mikolášek is a person without a professional medical education, but with an extraordinary talent to diagnose and use herbs to treat diseases with which even doctors experts often cannot cope.
Healing Bormann and Zapotocký
A controversial healer is not a first-rate benefactor or altruist. Over the years, he has been treating, for example, Nazi Bormann or the communist leader Zápotocký. He fights with his demons himself. Moreover, more and more they have to face political power and arbitrariness. First they are Nazis, then in the 1950s the Communists."The strongest is the film where the hero's work sticks, basically an organized health factory, where crowds of patients holding a bottle of their own urine patiently wait for Mikolášek to shake the liquid, examine it, pronounce a verdict and prescribe therapy. Fun, tragic and curious cases alternate from sample to sample…, “writes the well-known Czech film reviewer Mirka Spáčilová.
The Charlatan does not give instructions and clear answers. On the contrary, the more they dive into the black swamps of war and communist history, the more they ask questions. And in the finale, it's up to the viewer to relate to Mikolášek and his "miraculous" talent.
It was filmed in the Czech Republic, for example in the interesting West Bohemian town of Sušice and its beautiful surroundings, in Jaroměř in the north of the country near the Polish border and also in Prague.
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