The English Surgeon (film)

The English Surgeon
Directed by	Geoffrey Smith
Produced by	Geoffrey Smith
Starring	Henry Marsh, Igor Petrovich
Music by	Nick Cave Warren Ellis
Editing by	Kathy O'Shea
Release date(s)	October 2007
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The English Surgeon is a film, which premiered at the London Film Festival on 1 October 2007.

Synopsis

The English Surgeon is shot in a Ukrainian hospital full of desperate patients and makeshift equipment, but it is ultimately not a medical film—it is about a man, Henry Marsh, and his partnership with Ukrainian colleague Igor Petrovich, and their struggle with moral, ethical and professional issues.

Henry's emotional journey takes him to visit the mother of a young girl he couldn't save some years ago, intercut with the current dilemma of a young man called Marian, dying of a brain tumour said to be inoperable in Ukraine. Marian has come to Kiev hoping that Henry can save him. He thinks he can, but only if Marian is awake throughout the entire operation.

With an original soundtrack composed and performed by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, the film is set in a bleak Ukrainian landscape as Henry and his colleague Igor Petrovich struggle against massive logistical odds and the wrath of the old Soviet health system.

External links

• Official film website
• Time Out movie review
• Time Out Interview with Director Geoffrey Smith
• Article in The Times
• Article in The Telegraph
• Mindhacks viewer review
• Norwich Evening News 24 Article
• The New Zealand Herald Article
• American Cancer Society article