Charlatan

The biographical film Sarlatan is good, it is worth seeing because it describes the life and destiny of an interesting and controversial character. The life of the main character is totally atypical and includes both good and evil. On the one hand he was completely dedicated to the work of a healer, treating 200 people a day of all kinds of diseases, on the other hand he was a sadomasochist, with accents of madness when torturing and killing animals or when self-mutilating or with accents of murderer when he proposes to the man he lived with to kill his unborn child... A person with extraordinary abilities but also with an obvious mental and emotional imbalance. It bothered me that the film did not show clearly what was the situation of the character towards the end of his life, namely the fact that he was sentenced to 5 years in prison and not killed and that after his release he did not deal with healing.

Beautifully constructed movie that tugs at your heartstrings for cheering on a gifted maligned healer that miraculously healed countless and yet makes one recoil at his own selfish monstrosity of forcing his wants and needs upon the one most dependant on him for livelihood. In the end, his monstrosity prevailed to continue do what he always did to survive. It was control, possession, ownership and instinct to look out for his own life that mattered. Despite his gift to heal, he failed to save his own own soul by sacrificing real love for survival.

A very rich story about a dedicated man with an extraordinary gift and his own shadows. Very well played, the film takes us through three different regimes, each of which are suspicious about the protagonist's methods. Both gentle and cruel, he dedicates his life to healing others, until his perhaps greatest barrier threatens to put an end to his career. Moving and touching across several different layers. Very worthwhile to watch

Great art direction. Interesting story, but I felt it missed on a few things worth exploring. Great cinematography. Weak chemistry between the leads. Feels like an HBO TV movie, which is not necessarily a bad thing. 6* out of 10*

Czechoslovakian cinematography is flooded with mindless romantic comedies, so it very refreshing to finally see something with a soul. And oh my, this film is something. Breathtaking acting, both Ivan Trojan and Juraj Loj showed what they can do when they are given space and great script to work with. Characters are deep and meaningful, even the smallest roles left me wandering: Who are you, what is your story? Main character, Jan Mikolásek, has an interesting and unusual personality and definitely can't be seen as "a good guy" but he is not "a bad guy" either. I don't know if i would even call him moraly gray. It is completely left on you, how you choose to see him. Personally I also loved how they choose to portray love between two men, how completely breathtaking and pure their relationship was. Couple of times I was very close to tears. If this is where our cinematography is heading, I am definitely excited and I am looking forward to more films like this. Definitely worth watching. If you are slovak/czech, grab your cinema tickets asap. If not, get hold of a subtitled version and watch it too. Great work of art.