THE PHYSICIAN tells the story of Rob Cole (Tom Payne), a boy who is left a penniless orphan in an 11th-century English mining town when his mother dies of a mysterious illness. Vowing to become a physician and vanquish Death itself, he travels to Isfahan in Persia to study medicine under the great Ibn Sina (Ben Kingsley). Through countless ordeals and challenges, and making many sacrifices along the way, he struggles on unwaveringly. His unflagging quest for knowledge leads to the blossoming of friendship and true love.
The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Noah Gordon, first published in 1986 and the first in a trilogy of books that take the reader on the fictional adventures of Rob Cole. The book has sold over 21 million copies worldwide and is Gordon’s most successful novel so far.
The first thing that I noticed in the movie is the feel of the period as people do look like they are in the 11th-century and not very clean-looking as you get in most period dramas, the emotional start of the film with Rob and his family going through a death of their mother and being split up among the town folk is moving as his life takes a change in direction and the chance for a better life with the barber-surgeon (Stellan Skarsgard).
There are some fantastic rolling landscapes in the movie as the two travel across England on their journey to heal people in the towns, the use of the colour palette works wonderfully in not only the landscape scenes but also in the towns, no vibrant colours but a more subdued look to the world, that is until Rob takes his dream of being a physician one step closer by travelling to Persia.
With a golden looks from the sands and the sights and sounds of this amazing country, you get the feeling of being there, this is where things really start to become even more interesting than the first part of the film in England. The sand storm is very well done, although the self circumcision did make me feel a little queasy, but that’s one of the reasons for having a 15 certificate, that and some of the nudity and a fairly graphic sex scene later.
As Rob starts learning the secrets of being a physician from great Ibn Sina (Ben Kingsley), his passion grows and his life changes forever. Fighting to survive during the black death we see how they all pull together to discover how the plague is being spread after death.
The Physician certainly had me glued all the way through its 148 minute running time, which didn’t seem that long, which is always a good sign, it not only fascinated me, but I also found it very interesting and after watching the film I looked up the life of Ibn Sina to find out more about this fascinating man.
And although there are several differences from the film to the real Ibn Sina, it was still a joy to watch the movie. The Physician has a great choice for the cast and the parts they play, I do like Ben Kingsley and he seemed perfectly suited for his part, as did Tom Payne and Stellan Skarsgard was great as the barber-surgeon.
Add to the great casting, wonderful cinematography and a gripping storyline. Director Philipp Stoelzl has done a superb job in creating an enjoyable and visual movie. The Physician is certainly a film that I will be watching again.
The Physician is being released by Arrow Films.
Ben Kingsley is The Physician
Movie title: The Physician
Movie description: The story of Rob Cole, a boy who is left a penniless orphan in an 11th-century English mining town when his mother dies of a mysterious illness. Vowing to become a physician and vanquish Death itself, he travels to Isfahan in Persia to study medicine under the great Ibn Sina.
Date published: September 23, 2015
Director(s): Philipp Stölzl
Actor(s): Tom Payne, Stellan Skarsgård, Olivier Martinez
Genre: Adventure, Drama, History
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
