An intimate look at the daily activities of medical staff and patients in New York's Metropolitan Hospital.An intimate look at the daily activities of medical staff and patients in New York's Metropolitan Hospital.An intimate look at the daily activities of medical staff and patients in New York's Metropolitan Hospital.
- Won 2 Primetime Emmys
- 3 wins total
Photos
Eugene Friedman
- Self
- (as Eugene Friedman M.D.)
Stanley Friedman
- Self
- (as Stanley Friedman M.D.)
Robert Schwartz
- Self
- (as Robert Schwartz M.D.)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first TV movie to be preserved at the National Film Registry.
Featured review
Could Just Have Easily Been a Horror Movie
Acclaimed documentarian Fredrick Wiseman trains his notorious camera on the goings on of a hospital used primarily by people from a lower income bracket, and the results will likely sadden and horrify you.
Wiseman is always skilled at making you think he's being totally objective; it appears that he just turns his camera on and lets it run. However, he manages to construct a compelling indictment of how the poor are treated by the American medical industry and anyone with an ounce of warm blood in their veins will be enraged by what they see.
There are heartbreaking moments in this film, like doctors telling a woman she has only a limited amount of time to live and her complete unresponsiveness to the news. There are also moments that make you want to turn away from the screen, like the sight of a young man who's been given a purgative for a drug overdose spewing vomit all over the room, and then falling down in it. Indeed, much of this movie makes you feel guilty for watching at all. Shouldn't people's privacy and dignity be honored in situations like this? On the other hand, how would the majority of us know how the poor are treated if people like Wiseman didn't document it? The movie doesn't really pose and questions or answers, yet it manages to be completely compelling nonetheless. I saw it in a documentary film class and there was plenty of debate inspired by it.
Grade: A
Wiseman is always skilled at making you think he's being totally objective; it appears that he just turns his camera on and lets it run. However, he manages to construct a compelling indictment of how the poor are treated by the American medical industry and anyone with an ounce of warm blood in their veins will be enraged by what they see.
There are heartbreaking moments in this film, like doctors telling a woman she has only a limited amount of time to live and her complete unresponsiveness to the news. There are also moments that make you want to turn away from the screen, like the sight of a young man who's been given a purgative for a drug overdose spewing vomit all over the room, and then falling down in it. Indeed, much of this movie makes you feel guilty for watching at all. Shouldn't people's privacy and dignity be honored in situations like this? On the other hand, how would the majority of us know how the poor are treated if people like Wiseman didn't document it? The movie doesn't really pose and questions or answers, yet it manages to be completely compelling nonetheless. I saw it in a documentary film class and there was plenty of debate inspired by it.
Grade: A
helpful•80
- evanston_dad
- Jan 4, 2006
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Больница
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 24 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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