Hippocrate
03/09/17 Filed in: Amazon Prime
I don't know what things are like behind the scenes in a French hospital, but you get the feeling when watching this film that it is perhaps a fairly accurate portrayal. The fact that the director, Thomas Lilti, is a medical doctor, goes a long way to explaining why this may be the case. There's quite a lot of black humour as the staff joke about a range of medical issues, along with some serious partying, such activities serving as a pressure release valve for staff working under a lot of stress with at times inadequate resources.
The English title is Diary of a Doctor, which is fitting as it follows a junior intern, Benjamin, who arrives for his first stint at the hospital full of confidence. The fact that his father is a senior doctor at the same hospital turns out to be more of a liability than a blessing, but Benjamin is keen to impress. He soon meets up with Abdel, an Algerian doctor who is interning at the hospital as his qualifications are not accepted in France. But it soon becomes clear that Abdul has the benefit of experience, something Benjamin is lacking.
Things are all fairly mundane until one evening when a man known for his drinking is admitted. He is Monsieur Lemoine, known by the staff as Tsunami, and later in the evening he complains of chest pains. Benjamin requests an ECG but is told that the machine is broken. Instead of pressing the matter he accepts this, although one feels that he perhaps believes the pains are a result of the drinking. Lemoine dies, and Benjamin is criticised for his response to the situation. He himself obviously feels remorse. But his father moves to cover for him, and when Madame Lemoine comes in to learn the facts of her husbands death, she is given a false story. This weighs heavy on Benjamin's mind.
Later Abdul and Benjamin are involved in treating an elderly woman, who has been given a hip replacement, quite wrongly in the opinion of many of the interns, who realise that she is unlikely ever to walk again. The treatment of this patient becomes somewhat of a cause célebre with Abdul, he wishing to administer pain relief while others insist on more invasive treatment. The woman warms to Abdul and he becomes something of her protector. He advises non resuscitation in the event of a crisis, but one night while Benjamin is on duty the woman is rushed into resuscitation after her heart fails. Benjamin is livid, and an argument breaks out with the resuscitation team. He contacts Abdul and asks him to come and intervene. The woman's son and daughter have arrived at the hospital and there is a discussion with Abdul, after which her life support is switched off.
Abdul and Benjamin are held to have broken hospital rules by stopping a resuscitation, resulting in a disciplinary hearing. The outcome is the straw that breaks the camel's back for Benjamin, who is still harbouring the guilt from the death of Monsieur Lemoine. What follows has implications for Benjamin, the hospital and the staff, not all of which are bad. The main loser is the hospital director who is said to have worked previously for Amazon, and is not well liked by the staff.
Reviews for this film have been generally favourable, although some think it is more of a docudrama. Certainly the depiction of hospital life and the pressure on junior doctors appear to be very realistic, and mirror what we hear about UK emergency departments. There is really no central plot line, which is probably why the docudrama label has been attached. It is, as the English title suggests, a diary of a young doctor. It's worth watching if you have an interest in medical drama, and especially if you want to compare the French model with Casualty.
Later Abdul and Benjamin are involved in treating an elderly woman, who has been given a hip replacement, quite wrongly in the opinion of many of the interns, who realise that she is unlikely ever to walk again. The treatment of this patient becomes somewhat of a cause célebre with Abdul, he wishing to administer pain relief while others insist on more invasive treatment. The woman warms to Abdul and he becomes something of her protector. He advises non resuscitation in the event of a crisis, but one night while Benjamin is on duty the woman is rushed into resuscitation after her heart fails. Benjamin is livid, and an argument breaks out with the resuscitation team. He contacts Abdul and asks him to come and intervene. The woman's son and daughter have arrived at the hospital and there is a discussion with Abdul, after which her life support is switched off.
Abdul and Benjamin are held to have broken hospital rules by stopping a resuscitation, resulting in a disciplinary hearing. The outcome is the straw that breaks the camel's back for Benjamin, who is still harbouring the guilt from the death of Monsieur Lemoine. What follows has implications for Benjamin, the hospital and the staff, not all of which are bad. The main loser is the hospital director who is said to have worked previously for Amazon, and is not well liked by the staff.
Reviews for this film have been generally favourable, although some think it is more of a docudrama. Certainly the depiction of hospital life and the pressure on junior doctors appear to be very realistic, and mirror what we hear about UK emergency departments. There is really no central plot line, which is probably why the docudrama label has been attached. It is, as the English title suggests, a diary of a young doctor. It's worth watching if you have an interest in medical drama, and especially if you want to compare the French model with Casualty.