Hippocrates: Diary of a French Doctor

France, 101 min
Comedy, Drama
2:35, Dolby

Closing night of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival Critics’ Week, Hippocrates, Diary of a French Doctor is a darkly comic portrait of a Paris hospital as seen through the eyes of a young intern, Benjamin, played by Vincent Lacoste (Eden), who begins his internship at the hospital ward run by his father. Confident and determined that he will quickly become a successful doctor, Vincent soon realizes that the reality of the medical world is a lot grimmer than what he had imagined. He is also overshadowed by his co-junior partner Abdel, a foreign doctor, played by Reda Kateb (Lost River, Zero Dark Thirty) who’s obviously more competent than he is but who’s forced to work as an intern because of his immigrant status. When Vincent makes a medical error, his father quickly covers it up but Abdel is not fooled…

A charming counterpoint to shows like Grey’s Anatomy and House, Hippocrates, Diary of a French Doctor is framed as a rite of passage set against a social backdrop and offers an ultra-realistic vision of the French public medical system. Helmed by Thomas Lilti, an M.D himself, the film was a box-office hit in its native France, earned Reda Kateb a Cesar for best supporting actor, and is currently touring US festivals such as Rendez Vous With French Cinema in New York and COLCOA in Los Angeles.