Juro Janosik was a real-life bandit in Central Europe in the early 1700s, whose short and tragic career subsequently passed into legend; do a Google search and you will find all sort of cultural artifacts about Janosik, such as comic books and TV shows. Thus he is sometimes compared to Robin Hood.
The makers of this film decided to do a realistic approach to the story, but still offer a few fabulous elements in the form of dream sequences. The result does not romanticize Janosik, but the sheer beauty of the landscapes, the recurrent eroticism, and the haunting music serve to create a lush and lyrical atmosphere, at least until the very grim ending.
Presumably authentic ethnographic details (costumes, weddings, funerals and other rituals, as well as the widespread belief in magical spells) give the story an exotic atmosphere. The phenomenon of banditry under a repressive regime, eliciting the sympathy of the populace and the cruel retribution of those in power, is intelligently portrayed.
The storytelling seems overly elliptical at times; characters appear and vanish without the viewer quite knowing who they are. (But nor does Janosik, who literally cannot name all of his fellow brigands when questioned by the authorities.) I have noticed that this is often the result when a Euro TV series is cut down to feature film length, but I don't know if that's the case here.
While JANOSIK will not be to all tastes, this is by no means one of those horrible Euro historical movies we have encountered in recent years, which are so ineptly made they should never have been released; this is a serious film made by a very talented director (Agnieszka Holland, here working with her daughter, Kasia Adamik).
The makers of this film decided to do a realistic approach to the story, but still offer a few fabulous elements in the form of dream sequences. The result does not romanticize Janosik, but the sheer beauty of the landscapes, the recurrent eroticism, and the haunting music serve to create a lush and lyrical atmosphere, at least until the very grim ending.
Presumably authentic ethnographic details (costumes, weddings, funerals and other rituals, as well as the widespread belief in magical spells) give the story an exotic atmosphere. The phenomenon of banditry under a repressive regime, eliciting the sympathy of the populace and the cruel retribution of those in power, is intelligently portrayed.
The storytelling seems overly elliptical at times; characters appear and vanish without the viewer quite knowing who they are. (But nor does Janosik, who literally cannot name all of his fellow brigands when questioned by the authorities.) I have noticed that this is often the result when a Euro TV series is cut down to feature film length, but I don't know if that's the case here.
While JANOSIK will not be to all tastes, this is by no means one of those horrible Euro historical movies we have encountered in recent years, which are so ineptly made they should never have been released; this is a serious film made by a very talented director (Agnieszka Holland, here working with her daughter, Kasia Adamik).