The Magician of Lublin

Yasha Mazur, a turn‑of‑the‑century Jewish stage magician, is obsessed with figuring out how to fly. He tours the western reaches of the old Russian Empire, crafting a public persona that hides a restless, hedonistic private life. He is rarely home in Lublin, where Esther waits with little to show for his absence.

Yasha is married to Esther but spends little time at home in Lublin, letting his affairs fill the gaps. They have not been able to have any children, a void that haunts both of them. His infidelities complicate any chance of lasting happiness.

His mistresses include Zeftel and Magda, women who join him on tour and perform beside him. Beyond romance, his great loves are Emilia, a penniless widow, and her daughter Halina, whom he regards as his own. Halina’s illness and Emilia’s poverty shape his choices and ambitions.

Halina is ill and needs medical care, and Emilia knows Yasha cannot pay for the treatment. Emilia weighs marrying someone able to cover the costs, keeping herself free to care for Halina in the long term. The tension between love and duty shadows Yasha’s every move.

Yasha convinces his impresario Wolsky that he can fly, framing it as his grand breakthrough. Wolsky secures a booking at the prestigious Alhambra theatre in Warsaw, setting the stage for his ascent. Yasha tastes the lure of fame even as personal obligations threaten him.

Zeftel announces she is emigrating to America—actually to Buenos Aires—where a pimp promises her work. Realizing the danger of sexual slavery, Yasha resolves to help and devises a plan to protect her, performing a special show for the pimp and paying him to secure her safety.

The next morning, Yasha attempts to burglarize Count Zaruski's home to steal the money Emilia needs for Halina’s treatment. A disturbing vision of violence haunts him, and the plan fails, leaving him emotionally shattered. He feels the loss of Emilia, Halina, and his career closing in on him.

Returning to his rooms, Yasha discovers Magda has killed herself, amplifying his guilt and sense of catastrophe. The tragedy deepens his isolation as he contemplating the collapse of his life. He sinks into a pervasive emotional numbness.

Fully broken, Yasha withdraws from the world and seals himself in a brick hut with only a window to receive food and communication. He becomes a holy man, spending his days in prayer and Torah study, dispensing wisdom and blessings to those who seek him.

Wolsky arrives with Emilia, who seeks Yasha's forgiveness and asks him to pray for her. Emilia has become Countess Zaruski, and Halina is in a sanatorium in Italy receiving treatment. Their reunion confirms the lasting bonds and consequences of Yasha’s past life.

A heavily veiled widow arrives, revealed as Elzbieta, seeking vengeance for Magda's death. She comes with Bolek and friends to confront Yasha and hold him responsible, adding a dangerous edge to the already fragile situation.

A battering ram assaults the hut as Elzbieta and her companions prepare to kill Yasha. He is not inside the hut, and as the walls collapse, witnesses glimpse a skein of geese in the sky, with one goose in pursuit, signaling an apparent miracle.