My wife (who has had three operations on an inoperable brain tumor) and I found this a engaging, bright documentary when we watched it on PBS last night. Both surgeons impressed us with their humanity and with the dreadful effort they face in delivering awful news to patients and in practicising world class medicine in the Ukraine. A distinguished irony: the featured operation was done in a outmoded KGB building; the KGB had hasseled the Ukrainian surgeon for several years for providing unauthorized medical services.
Buy,Download, Or Stream The English Surgeon! Click Here
The comments on the PBS website devoted to this film consider a wide range of deep emotions that many viewers felt as they watched and reflected on this documentary. The film maker’s description of Mr. Marsh is factual on the money in my opinion: “He is firstly an artist and then a surgeon. He’s willing to seek at surgery and surgeons. He’s prepared to be vulnerable … He’s the very opposite of the arrogant, repressed surgical model.”
Incidentally, the just method to address a member or fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons is to spend the title Mr, Miss, Mrs, or Ms (not Dr) . This system (which applies only to surgeons, not physicians) has its origins in the 16th century, when surgeons were barber-surgeons and did not have a medical degree (or indeed any formal qualification), unlike physicians, who held a University medical degree.
Buy,Download, Or Stream The English Surgeon! Click Here
The documentary honored (honoured? ) this usage, and my wife and I honor both physicians. A fantastic film from our celebrated television status.
PBS has establish together a incredible website devoted to this film (link in first comment) .
Robert C. Ross 2009
Winner of nine International Awards: Camouflage East Awards, Best Film & Best Documentary; Silver Docs, Best International Documentary; Hot Docs, Best International Documentary; Expresion en Corto, Best International Documentary; Shanghai TV Festival, Best International Documentary; Kos Health Film Festival, Audience Award; Sheffield DocFest, Audience Award; Docudays Kyiv, Audience Award; and, Zagreb, Audience Award.
Approximately an hour and a half in length, the English Surgeon was funded by: The Ford Foundation; The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional funding was provided by: Wellcome Trust; CBA-DFID Broadcast Media Scheme; and YLE TV2 Documentaries.
Although the DVD jacket cautions viewers that the contents may not be appropriate for all and that viewer discretion is advised, I must caution readers that once you initiate watching this DVD, you’ll be mesmerized by not only the inspiring storyline, but also by the techniques and extremely glorious professional work by all who partook in the production of this documentary.
For those expecting to understanding one and a half hours of brain surgery, you’ll be disappointed (the right neurosurgery doesn’t open until almost an hour into the film, and then segments are briefly shown for a few seconds at a time, lasting about ten minutes in totality) . The surgery itself is a segment of the legend rather than being a documentary about the procedures of brain surgery. Regular viewers of TV series such as NCIS or CSI regularly examine scenes that are very considerable more graphic/squeamish than those depicted in this film.
The beauty of this documentary is in its presentation–you forget that you’re watching a documentary as you catch immersed in the stories told. As filmmaker, Geoffrey Smith, tells: “this is the sage of three men, two of whom have a profound relationship, a friendship, and the third one, known as a patient…they all hump to Kyiv…the film follows them through a journey–an operation, and on to recovery.” In the process, the film concentrates more on Dr. Marsh as a surgeon–what his life is like, the difficulties and joys of his work, as well as the emotional conflicts encountered. Additionally, throughout the documentary, some of the other cases on which Dr. Marsh is working are shown; each case is different, as is each prospect.
Although the English Surgeon immediately captures and captivates audiences, as if watching a film, this isn’t a work of fiction–it’s a documentary portraying real-life experiences, and as such, you pay acute attention, for it’s about a possibility that could affect not only you, your family, friends, acquaintances, and neighbors, but also strangers you may occasionally pass in public places. Dr. Marsh loves using his hands, and he loves using tools–he utilizes both very aptly, as they complement his life’s chosen career and occupation.
The characters in this film are the real-life souls narrating their personal life scripts–the surgical team, the patients, the hospital staff, the family members, and others. Not only is the epic personal in a very true sense, but the scenes are varied (taking area in a hospital, in a physician’s home, traveling through the countryside, visiting a patient’s home, etc.) with film footage from two countries, the variety and scoot of this documentary become all the more curious and piquant.
This is a film of contrasts: a fireplace in England vs. a fireplace in Ukraine; a religious photo on a calendar in an English hospital (St. Georges Hospital in London) vs. a spacious embroidered tapestry with a prayer hanging on a wall (in addition to religious icons on walls) in a Ukrainian hospital (Lipska Hospital in/near Zolochiv) ; inputting data on a computer in England vs. talking over the phone in Ukraine; and, dozing off on a chair in England vs. walking through a sleeping car on a notify in Ukraine.
Albeit in English (without subtitles), whenever Ukrainian is spoken, English subtitles are provided.
Dr. Marsh’s personal account had a squawk bearing/impact on the future direction that his life would choose. When his son, as a baby, had a brain tumor, Dr. Marsh found himself desperate for someone to aid him. And, later, as he said, he couldn’t “go away from that need in others.” This is the memoir of that segment of Dr. Marsh’s life which portrays his 15-year friendship with Ukrainian surgeon, Dr. Ihor Kurilets, his Ukrainian experiences, and his never-ending reaching out and helping others. He not only didn’t amble away from others in need; when critical, he got on a plane in pursuit of fulfilling his altruistic goals. His compassion and caring are truly an inspiration to all who learn his account.
His seventeen-year care for affair with Ukraine started in 1992, when Dr. Marsh first stepped on Ukrainian soil–he had been asked to give lectures on brain surgery. On his last day of that first crawl, Dr. Marsh visited a status hospital in Kyiv where he saw that there was no equipment, no electricity, patients were left to die, and where he was “appalled to search for a completely broken down medical system.” That was in 1992–that was what the Soviet government had left Ukraine as a legacy. Ukraine had gained her independence a few months earlier on August 24, 1991–that distinguished needed to be repaired and rebuilt, both spiritually and materially, was without a interrogate. That last day, Dr. Marsh also met Dr. Kurilets (who told him, “Dr. Marsh, we need you. We need change.”) –and a deep friendship ensued.
Over the years, each time that Dr. Marsh visited Ukraine, it was with a fresh thought, with a novel medical instrument, and, as Ukrainian surgeon Kurilets stated, “it was not as a medical cooperative pain, but it was grand deeper–it was as if Dr. Marsh was my elder brother.”
As a prelude to the brain surgery, we’re given a explore of the preparations that were under blueprint both in England and in Ukraine. In one scene, Dr. Kurilets enters a room at Lipska Hospital in Ukraine, walks up to a shimmering painting, which hangs on one of the hospital’s walls, and states: “it’s my celebrated painting, heroes–Kozaks.” And, we can compare Kozaks with us. There are many similarities with us because they are happy–because they won the battle. And, the same happened with us up to the successful stages. Sometimes, I suggest that I’m at this status (pointing to a spot in the painting) . And, my colleagues (pointing in a circular motion around the circumference of the table in the painting) are sitting around the table–and, by the plot, the table means in surgery quite something–Kozak’s table–but it can be a surgical table, also. So, they are delighted around the table, and we are also gratified and poor around the neurosurgical table. So, I like it very, very great.”
The patient with a brain tumor is Marian, who lives in Zolochiv, 400 kms (248.5 miles) west of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Marian’s preparations for surgery allow the viewer some glimpses into Ukrainian life: a fair, pastel pastoral scene, which includes the exterior of a Ukrainian church steeped in snow, when Marian visits his Ukrainian parish church to pray for a successful surgical outcome; a choir singing, as the interior is seen. (In Ukrainian churches, pews didn’t exist–people would stand for up to four hours during services.)
If I, personally, needed brain surgery, or knew someone who did, this is the DVD that I would want to scrutinize, and would heartily recommend to others–for it informs as it lessens any terror about the procedures. A must-see documentary and testament to the work of a selfless living hero, the English Surgeon is definitely worth five stars plus, and should be in libraries, both public and personal worldwide!
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