Jańcio Wodnik/Johnny Aquarius

This story from newly post-Communist rural Poland has elements of Polish and Yiddish folklore, as though a reverie by an older, dottier, gentile Tevye.

The fate of a horse found by a homeless Dziad [“old timer”] (Olgierd Łukaszewicz), frames the main narrative of Jan Jakub Kolski’s 1993 Jańcio Wodnik/Johnny Aquarius.

The framing story involves a horse. A homeless wanderer, Dziad [“Old timer”] (Olgierd Łukaszewicz), happens upon a mare on a rural path. Beholding an answered prayer, Dziad approaches the horse reverently; and then she drops dead. He buries her. “For wasting a horse, I hope a devil is born among you!” he says.

Jańcio (Franciszek Pieczka) sits with his young wife Weronka (Grażyna Błęcka-Kolska) as he considers his holy mission in Jan Jakub Kolski’s 1993 Jańcio Wodnik/Johnny Aquarius.

The story’s protagonist Jańcio (Franciszek Pieczka), an old peasant, relates this story to his young wife Weronka (Grażyna Błęcka-Kolska). Jańcio cannot believe that anyone would turn a horse out like that, worn out and with water running from under her tail. And at the end, Jańcio blames Socha (Lech Gwit), the horse’s former owner, for the unusual events he brought about by turning the horse out.

Water dumped in a farmyard becomes “żywa woda”, living water that climbs a ladder to fill a bird’s nest in Jan Jakub Kolski’s 1993 Jańcio Wodnik/Johnny Aquarius.

Within this frame is Jańcio’s rags-to-riches-to-rags tale as a miracle-working washer of feet. Jańcio is astonished when water from his own foot-washing, and then Weronka’s, thrown into their yard, climbs a ladder, “żywa woda” [living water] as though a kind of mayim chayim. He cannot turn water into wine. But he has visions; he begins to speak in Gospelic platitudes and after a long ponder he and Weronka agree that he must share his gift, such as it may be, with the wide world that is their native Brzustowa and the surrounding area in north-central Poland. Jańcio leaves behind his pregnant wife, setting out with his rustic wooden beczka strapped to his back, sloshing water—Jańcio Wodnik—Johnny the Water-bearer.

Jańcio (Franciszek Pieczka) revives Józek (Wiesław Cichy) in Jan Jakub Kolski’s 1993 Jańcio Wodnik/Johnny Aquarius.

Lightning from a storm that Jańcio believes his new powers caused strikes Józek (Wiesław Cichy), a man in a nearby village, while riding a horse “standing up like a cavalier”. Peasants have buried the “Umarlak” [goner] up to the neck in hopes of reviving him. Jańcio requests that the peasants dig him up; he washes Józek’s feet, and the “goner” awakes. Jańcio is rewarded for this “miracle”; his career is set. He cures the blindness of a young woman, Oczyszczona (Katarzyna Aleksandrowic). He falls in with Stygma (Bogusław Linda), a motorcycle-riding charlatan stygmatic who performs as one marked by the hand of God—with an eye for attractive village women. Stygma eventually “manages” Jańcio’s income and growing entourage.

Jańcio (Franciszek Pieczka) falls in with Stygma (Bogusław Linda), a motorcycle-riding charlatan stygmatic in Jan Jakub Kolski’s 1993 Jańcio Wodnik/Johnny Aquarius.

Weronka’s baby is born with a tail. People suspect a sign of the devil. Weronka brings the baby to Jańcio but his inability to make his tail go away convinces Jańcio’s followers that he has lost his power. They send him home. He sits in his farmyard for five and a half years trying to “turn back time” to recover his and his wife’s lost love, setting up the conclusion of the story.

Jańcio’s (Franciszek Pieczka) success as a folk healer brings gifts and a following in Jan Jakub Kolski’s 1993 Jańcio Wodnik/Johnny Aquarius.

The story is told like a folktale, the film shot in a nearly-documentary style in which scenes take no longer than necessary to register and convey essential elements of the narrative. One senses a playful verbal humor that requires fluent Polish and a good grounding in Polish Catholicism to follow. Zygmunt Konieczny wrote the music and ballads; the ballad lyrics were written by the director and sung by Błęcka-Kolska, Elżbieta Dębska, and Tadeus Zięba.

Jańcio (Franciszek Pieczka) uses his son’s tail to brush off his jacket in Jan Jakub Kolski’s 1993 Jańcio Wodnik/Johnny Aquarius.

The entire film is available to be streamed. 

Jańcio Wodnik (Johnny Waterman/Johnny Aquarius) 1993 Poland (101 minutes) Telewizja Polska/Vacek Film. Directed, with script and dialogue by Jan Jakub Kolski; music by Zygmunt Konieczny; screenplay by Tadeusz Kosarewicz; cinematography by Piotr Lenar; edited by Ewa Pakulska; costumes by Beata Olszewska; production design by Tadeusz Kosarewicz; produced by Andrzej Stachecki.