Author: Anne McCormick
Date: 9 May 2020
The physician, 2013
Drama. Historical movie. Adventure.
Country: Germany
Director: Philipp Stolzl
Actors: Ben Kingsley (Avicenna), Tom Payne (Rob Cole), Emma Rigby, Christian Serritiello, Michael Marcus Morgan
In a poor English village, a mother dies. She dies due to "bowel disease." In those days (about 1000 years AD) Europe was in decline. Barbers took the role of doctors. They also cured illnesses, mainly as charlatans. They were utterly barbaric, in unsanitary conditions, without tools, and any knowledge. Woe-doctors were often beaten up by angry relatives of the victims.
In such nasty circumstances, little Rob Cole (that was the name of the young character) meets a wandering barber doctor. In that life, nobody knew what the world had more of - grief or happiness. Rob also did not think about earnest studies with doctors from the East, who he heard about from the travelers. Little Rob was an ordinary boy who thoughts that he was the most unusual, charismatic, cheerful, and generous. And such a child was destined to walk to Persia, and become one of Avicenna's students.
The path to the city of Avicenna was long and full of dangers. But at the same time, this path was infinitely beautiful. The little boy ran through deserts and dunes! A young man, a European, a Christian, pretending to be Judea, so as not to be killed by warlike Muslims. And we see that no difference between nations and religions.
The place where Rob Cole falls is entirely cultural; science and medicine flourish there. Avicenna himself opened his school, where he trained future doctors. Doctors were propitious then - the epidemic of black death came to the country. The Muslim tradition of that period forbade the study of the internal organs of humans. Avicenna became a good mentor and friend of his students; he revealed to them knowledge in medicine that was above all religious prejudices. The film is about education and ignorance.
So much packed in one movie! The idea that the boy could go to Persia and stand on the same ground with the renowned doctor. It is impressive how Cole gets to know more than his teacher, a higher religion, and becomes a great humanist and enlightener. But such an artistic device has a right to exist. If Avicenna himself acted as a great humanist, it would be even more believable.
Now a little about the background of the picture. Persia of 1000 years AD is a Muslim country with a strong leader. Aggressive neighbors always attack the nation. Clashes within the country between Muslim radicals and moderate Muslims occur often. It is because the power belonged to moderate Muslims that Avicenna's school existed.
Everyone knows that Avicenna was a real person. His name was Ibn Sina, and he lived in the years 980-1037 AD, in the city of Isfahan, modern Iran. It was there that our young character went to study. Avicenna created a school of doctors, where he taught medicine, the moral foundations of the medical profession, humanism, and psychology. There was a ban on the study of internal organs, autopsy, as well as intracavitary operations. Avicenna, raised and grown in the Muslim world, could not cross the forbidden line. But the young Englishman, with a tenacious mind and a fearless heart, is not afraid of anything. And such people make all the most significant discoveries in science - a wise adult doctor and a young, energetic doctor—the union of East and West, Maturity and Youth.
If you are not indifferent to new experiences, ready to cross the desert, get into a sandstorm, live in a Medieval city, and even in an Eastern town - this film is for you.
These 2 hours passed quickly. My rating is 5 out of 5.
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