At several points in “Charlatan,” the camera looks glossily on as our protagonist holds small bottles of amber liquid to the light, academically scrutinizing their contents as they beam…
1 hour 58 minutes,” the camera looks glossily on as our protagonist holds small bottles of amber liquid to the light, academically scrutinizing their contents as they beam a light golden glow onto his features: an effect both ennobling and almost romantic. The man is Jan Mikolášek, a famous Czech herbalist and healer with almost uncanny powers of intuitive diagnosis; the radiant bottles, meanwhile, contain various samples of human urine.
From this narrative pivot point, “Charlatan” cross-cuts liberally between Mikolášek’s formative youth and septuagenarian downfall, marking time shifts visually through the varying palette and desaturation of Martin Strba’s attractive lensing: All but monochromatic in the darkest days of Communist interference, and radiantly sun-gilded in happier, healthier times.
Sensing that he has a rare homeopathic instinct, he trains as an apprentice to crotchety village healer Mülbacherová — to the consternation of his father, who sees her as nothing more than a crank. As indicated by the film’s title, it’s far from the first time in his career he’ll face such skepticism over his chosen branch of alternative medicine.
Enter burly, taciturn manual laborer František Palko , who offers Mikolášek unwavering loyalty and discretion through his boss’s most ethically dubious business decisions. An erotic current between the men is clear from their first scene together, though an eventual secret romance between them — an arc you might expect to dominate the storytelling — blooms late in the screenplay.
I only do what nature allows me, and what God allows nature,” Mikolášek says in his defense; assisted by the elder Trojan’s grave, thoughtful performance, the film casts more doubt on his allegiances than his convictions. It’s his chemistry with Loj’s warmer, more sensual presence as Palko that keeps the film, overstuffed and short on humor as it is, from getting turgid, along with the filmmakers’ own clear faith in their flawed subject.
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