RoweReviews
  • Viewing Log / Reviews
  • Search
  • Ramblings
  • Contact Me

Hippocrates (2014) - Thomas Lilti

4/26/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Thomas Lilti's Hippocrates is a darkly comic and deeply sobering expose of the French public medical system, following Benjamin, a new medical intern who is attempting to adjust to the fast-paced, high-stress environment.  Overwhelmed but a good doctor, Benjamin loses a patient due to hospital negligence, with the hospital staff covering it up to avoid a lawsuit.  Writer/Director Thomas Lilti was a physician and it shows in Hippocrates, a film that provides a deep, pensive look into the public health services system, showing how this corporatization conflicts with the most important job of a doctor, putting the patient first.  Capturing the the budget cuts and  supply shortages, Hippocrates really speaks to how this can wear a doctor down emotionally and physically.  I don't think it's a mistake that the one character who represents a man willing to fight for the system is a foreigner in Abdel, an Algerian physician who has demoted himself down to intern in France, just for sake of him and his families' immigrant status.  Featuring a fine performance by Rada Kateb, Abel is a symbol of hope, a man who eventually awakens Benajamin to the need to fight for the patients.  A scene towards the end of the film is a transparent moment, with Thomas Lilti unleasing all of his frustration about the system in an explosive scene that sees many of the hospital staff, mostly interns, stand up for themselves and their patients after another near tragedy.  Whats funny about this film is that intentionally or not,  it also speaks to the inherent selfishness of humanity, with the staff only speaking up about the problems after one of their own is seriously injured and in their care.  Hippocrates never feels heavy-handed, and perhaps the comedic element helps with that, but my favorite aspect of the film pertains to how it captures the rough life of doctors.  For me, Hippocrates is more intersting in the perspective that everyone deals with tough situations in different ways, some doctors go cold, others deny, but for some the pain is too much, heading them on a collision course with hospital admistrators.   I particuarly liked an exchange between Benjamin and his friend in intensive care, each having very diferent mindsets and perspectives when it comes to dealing with patients.  Hippocrates also acknowledges the bond that is shared between almost all hospital staff, almost doing so out of survival, being a family in a world of sorrow.  Given the filmmaker's knowledge of this situation, Thomas Lilti's Hippocrates is an authentic and informative look into the corporatization of hospitals that dark comedic approach makes it easier to stomach.

Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Love of all things cinema brought me here.  

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Viewing Log / Reviews
  • Search
  • Ramblings
  • Contact Me