The Physician (2013)

In Persia in the 11th Century, a surgeon's apprentice disguises himself as a Jew to study at a school that does not admit Christians.

Director:

Philipp Stölzl

Writers:

Jan Berger (screenplay), Noah Gordon (novel)

Stars:

Tom Payne, Stellan Skarsgård, Olivier Martinez

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Payne	...	Rob Cole
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Barber
Olivier Martinez	...	Shah Ala ad-Daula
Emma Rigby	...	Rebecca
Elyas M'Barek	...	Karim
Fahri Yardim	...	Davout Hossein
Makram Khoury	...	Imam (as Makram J Khoury)
Michael Marcus	...	Mirdin
Ben Kingsley	...	Ibn Sina
Stanley Townsend	...	Bar Kappara
Emil Marwa	...	Tuveh Ben Meir
Martin Hancock	...	Merlin
Adam Thomas Wright	...	Young Rob Cole (as Adam Wright)
Jodie McNee	...	Agnes Cole
Dominique Moore	...	Despina

Storyline

When nine-year-old Rob Cole felt the life force slipping from his mother's hand he could not foresee that this terrifying awareness of impending death was a gift that would lead him from the familiar life of 11th-century London to small villages throughout England and finally to the medical school at Ispahan. Though apprenticed to an itinerant barber surgeon, it is the dazzling surgery of a Jewish physician trained by the legendary Persian physician Avicenna that inspires him to accept his gift and to commit his life to healing by studying at Avicenna's school. Despite the ban on Christian students, Rob goes there, disguising himself as a Jew to gain admission. Gordon has written an adventurous and inspiring tale of a quest for medical knowledge pursued in a violent world full of superstition and prejudice.

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Plot Keywords:

jew | christian | persia | surgeon | medicine | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 2013 (Germany)

Also Known As:

El médico

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$36,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

UFA Cinema, ARD Degeto Film, Beta Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

150 min 119 min (cut theatrical)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is based on a best-selling novel by Noah Gordon's "The Physician". The book was recorded in 1999 at the Book Fair in Madrid, in the list of the ten most popular books of all time.

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Goofs

It is assumed that human dissection was forbidden by the Shareeah in the middle age, so both Ibn Sina and Rob Cole are sentenced to death by an Islamic court. In fact, systematic dissections of the human body were performed neither in Islam nor in England not only due to religious prohibitions, but also because they were considered unnecessary, although they would be done occasionally. Today, dissecting humans is allowed in Islam and in Christian lands under certain circumstances.

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Quotes

Ibn Sina: What is it like?
Rob Cole: Inside?
Ibn Sina: [nods]
Rob Cole: It is both... beautiful... and frightening.
Ibn Sina: Go on.
Rob Cole: I saw the heart!
Ibn Sina: Describe it.
Rob Cole: It has two chambers with an impassable wall in between.
Ibn Sina: So how does the blood get from one side to the other?
Rob Cole: By way of the lungs, I think.
[...]

User Reviews

Beautiful and entertaining

If you have not read the book (like me) you will probably not be disappointed, otherwise you should probably read the review of somebody who read the book before.

This movie had a lot going for it: beautiful scenery (and a likewise beautiful Emma Rigby), credibility and oriental charisma. It was educative about the founding days of modern medicine/surgery and very nicely crafted overall. Ben Kingsley was grand as usual and the other cast was very convincing as well.

There are not a lot of negative aspects I can find here. Some parts in the late first half of the movie are not very suspenseful but it picks up very nicely from then on.

Another small issue for me was that there were a few too many saved-at- the-very-last-moment scenes (not as many as in The Hobbit II, which was a great movie anyways)

I just hope that this movie is as successful as it deserves to be (which I am not sure about since there were only 4 other people attending the Friday afternoon show in my hometown).

Great movie. I recommend it highly!