This documentary by Geoffrey Smith tells the inspiring story of British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh, who turned the run-down remains of a Ukrainian hospital into a working surgery center. When Marsh visited the Kiev hospital in the 1990s, he was aghast at the deplorable conditions of both the facilities and the patients. Bent on creating a medical institution where sufferers at least had hope, he began collecting medical equipment, gradually providing those with injuries and tumors the opportunity
to have life-saving procedures. ~ Cammila Albertson, Rovi
Some will feel privileged to see human drama and an aspect of life not often seen on the movie screen. Others will feel haunted by it and wish they never saw it. For sure, few will leave the film unaffected.
Like Marsh, the filmmaker has taken a sort of triage approach to telling the tale, with near-perfect pacing as he moves between Marsh, the patients, and Marsh's wonderful Ukrainian colleague, neurosurgeon Igor Kurilets.
Why see such a difficult film? For the same reason Smith made it: There is great beauty in watching one heroic soul insist that he can improve upon a cruel and complex world.
[Director] Smith seems intent on turning Marsh into a folk hero. That's fine, I suppose, although it would have been informative to take a closer look at Ukraine's medical nightmare -- its causes and its prognosis.
As with Marsh, the state of Ukrainian medicine, and his topic's underlying issues of morality and mercy, director Smith merely presents them in all their heartrending complexity.
Good to know that there are still doctors around who do not spend all their waking hours thinking of $$$. (OK, maybe only in England, but that's a start.)
While doctors don't make house calls anymore, Dr. James Marsh, a neurosurgeon, travels to the Ukraine to see patients in "The English Surgeon," a documentary that is more emotional than informative.(Admittedly, I now know more about brain surgery than I really wanted to know.) In focusing on a single patient who has
to travel 400 kilometers to Kiev to see Dr. Marsh about his brain tumor that has been causing epileptic seizures, the movie seeks to shed light on the dreadful state of healthcare in the former Soviet republic. Marsh who has been going there since 1992 is told that his contributions are only a drop in the bucket but it soon becomes clear that relatively minor improvements can do wonders, especially concerning early detection, as he donates any old equipment which is not nailed down. Even while providing hope, he still agonizes over an old case involving a child. At the same time, he admits neurosurgery is tricky in trying to figure out when exactly to operate.
March 25, 2011
Walter M.
Super Reviewer
While doctors don't make house calls anymore, Dr. James Marsh, a neurosurgeon, travels to the Ukraine to see patients in "The English Surgeon," a documentary that is more emotional than informative.(Admittedly, I now know more about brain surgery than I really wanted to know.) In focusing on a single patient who has
to travel 400 kilometers to Kiev to see Dr. Marsh about his brain tumor that has been causing epileptic seizures, the movie seeks to shed light on the dreadful state of healthcare in the former Soviet republic. Marsh who has been going there since 1992 is told that his contributions are only a drop in the bucket but it soon becomes clear that relatively minor improvements can do wonders, especially concerning early detection, as he donates any old equipment which is not nailed down. Even while providing hope, he still agonizes over an old case involving a child. At the same time, he admits neurosurgery is tricky in trying to figure out when exactly to operate.
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