Charlatan

Charlatan is a drama based on the life of Jan Mikolášek, a Czech herbalist who rose to prominence in the early twentieth century. Gifted with an unusual talent for diagnosis and treatment, he built a flourishing practice and became wealthy and widely known. His reputation carried him through the Nazi occupation and the subsequent communist era, as successive regimes found his skills useful and offered him protection in return. The film follows his efforts to keep practising his craft while the political ground shifts beneath him, and the personal relationships that shape his life, including his bond with his assistant František Palko. Pressure on him grows as his prominence attracts suspicion, and he is eventually forced to defend his methods.

Agnieszka Holland directed the film, which came after Mr. Jones in her filmography and before Green Border. Marek Epstein wrote the screenplay, and the cast includes Ivan Trojan as the older Mikolášek, Josef Trojan as the younger version of the character, and Juraj Loj as František Palko, with Jaroslava Pokorná, Jana Kvantiková and Jiří Černý in supporting roles.

Released in August 2020, the film runs 118 minutes and was produced across Ireland, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. It took about 2 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.8 from roughly 3,600 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.7 from around 149 votes, indicating a modest but consistent audience response.