The Quack (1982)

I love this movie so much

Good movie but grossly overrated

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

'Professor Wilczur', the adaptation by Jerzy Hoffman of a beloved literary best—seller, is a clever Polish melodrama about a hugely talented surgeon who becomes an amnesiac and, under the name Antoni Kosiba, wanders through rural Poland in search of jobs. At last he settles with an Orthodox family and cures the son of the host by performing an orthopedic intervention. Then Antoni passes from orthopedics to neurosurgery.The script is, like the novel, replete with the devices of a melodrama. The cinematography is delicious; the cast seems mostly average, except for the hot blonde widow who tempts, unsuccessfully, poor Antoni.

This film follows the life of a renowned physician who ends up a homeless vagrant with amnesia after losing his family and getting beaten up in an alley, all within a short span of time.There isn't anything weak about this movie. The story feels very real and has touching moments without being superficial or cheesy. The story moves between an early 20th century Polish city and village life of the same era. The main character is easy to like and to relate to as he goes through his woes and tries to put his memories and life back together.I recommend this film if you would like to watch a good, humane drama that doesn't disturb you in its darkest moment, builds an air of hope as it develops, and ends with a very satisfying sweet touch.

I loved this film. I saw it years ago while living in Romania. Here, in Spain, nobody has ever heard of it unfortunately. Afterwards I read the book, it's absolutely fantastic (there are two novels about this character - Znachor and Profesor Wilczur) and of course searched the web in order to find a way of purchasing the DVD with English or french subtitles as I don't understand at all polish... but by now there is no such edition. It's a pity, this movie is great. After so many years lots of details are almost gone from my memory, but I remember it as a beautiful film, great actors, great music... I'd like to highly recommend it to everybody, but as I already said, there's the problem of the language.

An excellent story about a talented surgeon who is abandoned by his wife with a young daughter. Stricken with grief he gets drunk, is robbed and badly beaten. As a result he suffers from amnesia and for years wonders from settlement to settlement working as a laborer. Finally he gets a job in a mill and driven by an impulse helps mill-owner's son to walk again after an accident. Gradually people start crowding to see the famous 'quack'. In the meantime, in the neighboring town a young lady who works as a shop assistant is courted by a son of local count, who opposes his son's choice. The lady and the young count get badly hurt in a motorcycle accident and the quack saves their lives. Arrested for practicing medicine without qualifications he gets rescued by the grateful patients. During the court hearings he regains his memory and realizes that the young lady he saved is his daughter. Well acted, good script - well worth watching. One can only hope that one day it will released on a DVD with English subtitles.