Dr. Semmelweis

My students and I watched this movie today. They liked it a lot, and we talked about it for a long time afterwards, it seemed that it piqued their interest. The story is exciting, sometimes too much so naturalistic. Struggle and tragedies accompanied the film, presenting the XIX. Health condition of the century. I didn't know many of the actors, but they all gave excellent performances. The young actor who played Semmelweis, Vecsey H. Miklós, created a convincing, real doctor character. Lajos Koltay's excellent direction also contributed to the experience. The creators can be rightfully proud. I hope the film gets international recognition.

The story line is close to what happened in real life. Missing the coroner from the real life story though. Excellent actors and hope Koltai will win an Oscar with this film.

Semmelweis' story shows that simple being curious, observational and logical can result in life-changing discoveries. The film also shows how some peoples believe they are above others, and the not so straightforward Austrian-Hungarian relationship. A worthwhile film to watch.

Let's hope this Hungarian film about the savior of all mothers and hospital patients will be recognized and enjoyed by the international audience. 👍

It's not the first time that more money is poured into a film, whose end result is far from good.

I recognized actors in it who generally perform very well, but here it somehow didn't come across. Summing up the acting, I'd give it a 10/2. They couldn't make me feel their situation; at times, the monologues seemed as if they were pondering what their next line should be.

I find the two-hour runtime of this film unnecessary. Often, less is more; here, many parts of the film became boring, lacking sufficient plot.

The costumes, backgrounds, and the overall visual appearance were fine; it's a shame that they adapted this outstanding story so poorly.

Semmelweis was indeed a admirable historical figure, but the movie has added too much romanticized fantasy to the story up to the point where some people would shout "historical inauthenticity".

I understand the need to dramatise the story for the moviegoer audience, but some casting accuracies and factual authenticity wouldn't have hurt the overall enjoyability of the film, but at the same time the struggle of that particular era was really palpable.

In general it was a movie to be seen once, but it won't become a cinema classic, but compromises between drama, authenticity and production budget led to this outcome. You should watch it at least once, to see why science is held back by authority.

I've got to admit, overall, there were parts of the movie that really worked for me. The cinematography, the original score, visual effects, costume design, locations, set planning, even the furniture-all of it was seriously well done. The color palette and scene composition were beautiful, and the settings felt authentic and thoughtfully put together. It really gave off a strong, believable vibe of the era.

As for the acting... aside from a few seasoned standouts like László Gálffi, Lajos Kovács, Anna György, and maybe Ferenc Elek, it felt a bit shaky. Semmelweis himself came across as overacted and a bit immature. The younger cast members either overdid it or lacked presence. Makes you wonder if that's on the director or maybe the casting choices?

Costume design deserves another shout-out-it was excellent. The cinematography really helped highlight the period details in the sets and wardrobe.

That said, it's kind of a shame that the film is overwhelmed by melodramatic characters and lines. The key scenes are sometimes way too basic, or they hinge on overly dramatic "quotes" that just don't land.

Also, Semmelweis is constantly sweating-like, drenched. I'm not quite sure why that choice was made. Maybe there's a deeper meaning behind it, but if there is, it went over my head.