Agnieszka Holland’s biographical tale of a Czech herbal expert who makes a living diagnosing patients by their urine samples may not exactly be everyone’s cup of pee at first. However barely submerged within it is a commentary on the suffocating totalitarian regime it happens under and a pointed statement that supposedly absurd practices supported by blind faith are not all that rare. It’s just enough layers to make this dour story something to ponder. Jan Mikolasek (with Ivan and Josef Trojan as the young and old Jan) dedicates his life to studying medicinal herbs after saving his sister’s leg from amputation with a plant-based poultice. Believing that he can predict people’s death he begs an older healer to let him become her apprentice. That singular commitment over time brings him notoriety and a line of patients outside his surgery. He continues to practice on both the poor and the influential despite being castigated in the press for his unusual methods. Throughout his career, Jan is assisted by Frantisek Palto (Juraj Loj) whose piercing eyes eventually become irresistible to Jan. After an intense and violent consummation of their mutual interest they embark on a long-term love affair that has to dodge both the authorities and Frantisek’s wife. |
The movie travels at a crawling pace peppered with brief and explosive violence. Jan lives under both the Third Reich and then later, communism. The air of oppression lends a weariness to all of the characters, threatening to make them snap under its weight at any moment. Colour is leached from all of the visuals except when he is alone with his lover in nature. Those glaringly bright moments lend a brief release of beauty and hope.
The film keeps open the question of who the charlatan is. Jan shows commitment to his craft at every stage. He appears to have faith in his own methods. The satisfaction of certainty is never awarded to the audience and therefore this long film still seems to end before it should.
Review by ANDREW HEBDENQueerguru Contributing Editor ANDREW HEBDEN is a MEDIA & CULTURAL STUDIES graduate spending his career between London, Beijing and NYC as an expert in media and social trends. As part of the expanding minimalist FIRE movement, he recently returned to the UK and lives in Soho. He devotes as much time as possible to the movies, theatre, and the gym. His favorite thing is to try something (anything) new every day.
Labels: 2021, Agnieszka Holland, Czech, drama
