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Bethune: The Making of a Hero (1990)Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune, 1890-1939, (Donald Sutherland) journeys 1500 miles into China to reach Mao Zedong's eighth route army in the Wu Tai mountains where he will build hospitals,... See full summary » Director:Phillip Borsos |
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Title: Bethune: The Making of a Hero (1990)
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Cast
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| Donald Sutherland | ... | ||
| Helen Mirren | ... |
Frances Penny Bethune
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| Helen Shaver | ... |
Mrs. Dowd
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| Colm Feore | ... |
Chester Rice
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| James Pax | ... |
Mr. Tung
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Da Guo | ... |
Dr. Chian
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| Anouk Aimée | ... |
Marie-France Coudaire
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| Ronald Pickup | ... |
Alan Coleman
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Geoffrey Chater | ... |
Dr. Archibald
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Zong-yao Tan | ... |
General Nieh
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Ke-Yaw Zhang | ... | |
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Iñaki Aierra | ... |
Dr. Salvador
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| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
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Lorne Brass | ... |
Reporter 1
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Sophie Faucher | ... |
Nurse MacKenzie
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Frank Fontaine | ... |
Dr. Williamson
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Plot Summary
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Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune, 1890-1939, (Donald Sutherland) journeys 1500 miles into China to reach Mao Zedong's eighth route army in the Wu Tai mountains where he will build hospitals, provide care, and train medics. Flashbacks narrate the earlier events of his life: a bout with tuberculosis at the Trudeau sanatorium; the self-administration of an experimental pneumothorax; the invention of operative instruments; his fascination with socialism; a journey into medical Russia; and the founding of a mobile plasma transfusion unit in war-torn Spain. Bethune twice married and twice divorced his wife, Frances (Helen Mirren) who chooses abortion over child-rearing in her unstable marriage. By 1939, Bethune had been dismissed from his Montreal Hospital for taking unconventional risks and from his volunteer position in Spain for his chronic problems of drinking and womanizing. As his friend states: "China was all that was left." Even there, Bethune confidently ignores the advice of ... Written by Duffin, Jacalyn
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Language:
EnglishRelease Date:
17 September 1993 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Dr. Bethune See more »Filming Locations:
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Although I know nothing of the life of Dr. Norman Bethune, this biopic appears to be a credible history lesson. But not much more. Though the scenery is gorgeous and we get lots of opinions on our subject, plus writings in his journal, we never really get inside Bethune. This is because the director and the screenwriter seem to be men with banal vision and little imagination.
The movie this film most reminds me of is Gandhi, whose faults it shares but Bethune does not have as powerful a cast. Acting is generally adequate but not much more than that. That the hero is a communist does not mean there couldn't have been a great story here. It does mean most American and Canadian audiences are not going to start watching wanting to see this man's greatness proven, the way they did for Gandhi.