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:

Noah Gordon (based on the novel by), Jan Berger (screenplay by)

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	...	Rob Cole (10 Years) (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:

medicine | middle ages | persia | journey | muslim | 

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Taglines:

A journey out of darkness into light

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violent content, sexuality/nudity and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 December 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

El médico

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$36,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

UFA Fiction, 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

This movie was 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

[first lines]
Barber: [performing for a crowd] Back and forth, up and down, left to right, for more than one hundred years. But nowhere have I had the pleasure of looking out upon a crowd with prettier girls than here in your wonderful Rough Dovender. Why do I specially like it here because... I always lay me best eggs here.
Barber: [starts imitating a chicken, then produces an egg]

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Alternate Versions

German TV version runs approx. 30 minutes longer.

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Soundtracks

Amor es Aquella Cosa
Lyrics by Schirin Partowi
Music Composed by Ingo Frenzel and Schirin Partowi
Performed by Schirin Partowi
Orchestra: Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg

User Reviews

good movie

Really people! This was a good movie! Its entertainment. I did not watch this for historical value. Since movies are always,always altered for impact, even a work of fiction. If I wanted to know the true accounting of someones life I would read a history book. But this movie made me want to know the truth about this history because it change the way medicine advanced and in turn Life. Again, movies are for letting someone enjoy time away from a ordinary Life. No 10..a little long but they don't have 9 1/2 and in order to tell this story we needed to see all of what was shown. If you watch movies not documentaries and even then, don't expect the truth. Movie: story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving images and shown in a theater or on television; a motion picture. Stop harping on political,social injustice, and religious inconsistencies and just enjoy the MOVIE.