Synopsis
Benjamin is meant to be a great doctor, he’s certain of it. But his first experience as a junior doctor in the hospital ward where his father works doesn’t turn out the way he hoped it would. Responsibility is overwhelming, his father is all but present, and his co-junior partner, a foreign doctor, is far more experimented than he is. This internship will force Benjamin to confront his limits… and start his way to adulthood.
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Cast
- Vincent LacosteBenjamin
- Reda KatebAbdel Rezzak
- Jacques GamblinLe professeur Barois
- Marianne DenicourtDr. Denormandy
- Félix MoatiStéphane
- Carole FranckMyriam
- Philippe RebbotGuy
- Julie BrochenMme Lemoine
- Jeanne CellardMadame Richard
- Thierry LevaretMonsieur Lemoine, dit Tsunami
Recommendations
- 91
Entertainment Weekly
A sobering look at the bureaucratic trials and life-and-death decisions rookie doctors face on their daily rounds. - 70
Village Voice
Thorny issues regarding patient-caregiver relationships, cost-vs.-care tensions, and morality-vs.-rules dynamics are handled with a minimum of didacticism by Lilti, whose handheld camerawork provides a measure of immediacy without calling undue attention to itself. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
It’s Kateb -- a rising star with three films in Cannes this year -- who steals the show, portraying a man whose professionalism and humanity are constantly thwarted by the other staff members, especially the Gallic natives that don't have to jump through the same hoops he does. - 70
Variety
While the story arc of Hippocrates is not especially remarkable, the film works best in its depiction of life in the bowels of the hospital, which the public never visits. - 63
Philadelphia Inquirer
While it has considerable charms, Hippocrates is just too predictable. - 63
Washington Post
Hippocrates loses its nerve with a facile climax that betrays the depth of what precedes it, yet there are few things more fascinating than when competent professionals disagree, especially if we appreciate the source of their impasse. - 50
The New York Times
Hippocrates unfolds pretty much like an average episode of “ER,” though with more French flag waving and less storeroom romancing. - 50
Los Angeles Times
Director and co-writer Thomas Lilti's mistake, though, is thinking the bland Benjamin's coming of age concerns are worth so much screen time. The sturdier character study in Hippocrates is of soulful, beleaguered Algerian-born Abdel (Reda Kateb).
