Monday, October 4, 2004

Wit

Rating:★★★★
Category:Movies
Genre: Drama

There are only a handful of movies can shed a tear in my eyes and Wit is one of them. My sister suffered from cancer and had passed away years ago. By watching this satirical drama i can relate so much to the story and recall how bitter and painful fighting the illness during the last days of her young life. Every physician should see this film, perhaps the experience would make them less inhumane to their patients.

The film is directed by Mike Nichols (with memorable work like "The Graduate" and the acclaimed "Angels in America"). He is so poignant here, focused. The main character, uses a narrative of the first person, a stern professor of poetry named Vivian Bearing, often talks directly to the camera, incorporating a straightforward point of view as she shares her personal feelings directly to us. This gives the movie a personal dimension, and the soundtrack, consisting of memorable classical music, contributes to the penetrating power of this outstanding drama.

I've read somewhere that the script is an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Margaret Edson. Wit offers a powerful satire on the cold and rather antiseptic environment of hospitals, in which patients are seen more as learning opportunities than people. And i can testify for it being somewhat true. I still remember the doctors who operate my sister ask for more money while she was still in the operating table.

The poetry, interspersed throughout the movie as a source of strength for the character, is well executed. And this is coming from a person who is densed when it comes to poetry. Do not let this depressing review stop you from viewing "Wit" it is thought-provoking, riveting, unforgettable, surely one of the best movies of the decade.


16 comments:

  1. sorry about your sister... what a horrible thing to do to ask for more money while the patient's about to be operated on! >:-[~

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  2. Thanks Fer :) That is why i am so deeply touched by this movie, when it incisively open the cold nature of medical practice in some hospitals. All in all tho' Wit is genuinely a must see, coz i think Emma Thompson deliver one of her best vintage performance.

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  3. sounds interesting.. not a new movie, is it?
    will check it out when i finally join the dvd rental place down the road... :-P

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  4. It's from 2001, an HBO Presentation movie like Gia, and Laramie Projects. I know you like poetry so i'm sure you'll like this one, as it uses to good effect the character's love for John Donne sonnets.

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  5. ok ok.... thanks! :-)

    btw, was your sister younger or older?
    we lost our youngest brother in a car accident around three years ago as well...

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  6. Deary me, deeply sorry to hear about your brother too.
    About my sis, she was three years younger than me. I sent you pm by the way.

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  7. I just can't believe that doctors who supposely helping would see an opportunity on operating table. it's just ridiculous... well may be not all doctors like that but the reputation somewhat tainted by irresponsible others. :(

    I also had first hand experience... first it was mom, had a fever, went to the doctor and told she had to be treated in the hospital (which the doctor's own btw) because she had thypus. They took x-rays, blood test, etc to show me & mom about her "serious condition". Me, being a worried daughter obliged and said "yeah mom.. come on, think of it as a rest" She stayed there for 2 days... she was actually better in just half a day after she got on her hospital bed.
    I still thought she got thypus.. but then when my husbnad was taken ill, we went to the same doctor and also told he needed to be hospitalized right away. We were wondering... I thought Bim just got a cold or something... we were dragged along with a nurse who oractically pushed us to go to the hospital next door. That got us thinking... "kok maksa siiih???" and we said we'd like a second opinion... didn't want to go to the hospital. The nurse looked rather scared and said need to talk to the doctor first... we got in again and u know what... he said "yaa udaaah.. kalo makin parah dan kenapa2 jangan salahin saya.. saya khan cuma ngebantu" :O
    We went to another doctor... and he just gave Bim medicine that actually made him better.

    Never again we would go to that doctor...

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  8. That is just plain disgraceful what these professionals do and they are ruining the good name of the others. And to think that most of them are already rich.

    Sometimes their lack of empathy lies to the many expose of grieve and pain they witness everyday and night so they become even more immune to others suffering. But we can also write plenty of stories about dedication and love from the others in the professions like doctors or nurse.

    Usually we can complain and even sue but there's this blue wall of silence between the Association and in this case IDI for that matter when dealing with this sort of misconduct.

    Thank you for sharing though, Sanya.

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  9. looks like it's a common problem...

    http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20041007.A04&irec=7

    Bad doctors 'force many to seek treatment abroad'
    Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta


    Poor facilities and badly trained doctors have prompted many Indonesians who can afford it to seek treatment abroad, Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi said on Wednesday.

    He said wealthy Indonesians had spent some US$600 million last year on their medical treatment in overseas hospitals.

    Speaking at a two-day seminar on the improvement of hospital quality in Jakarta, Sujudi said hospitals often offered inadequate treatment that meant patients often had to fork out more money for costly medication or pain relief.

    Because of this, and the increasing allegations of malpractice in the press, many Indonesians had little faith in local hospitals, he said.

    Citing the results of a survey, Sujudi said Caesarean section deliveries in many hospitals had increased sharply in Indonesia. "Is that true that most women here have hip problems that force them to get Caesareans?" he said.

    A Caesarean delivery is normally only made when circumstances surrounding a birth could put the health of the mother or the child in danger.

    However, many Indonesian women were now choosing Caesareans for cosmetic reasons, to avoid labor pains, or even to give birth on a certain day for luck.

    "People here still pay their medical costs based on one-fee-for-one-service system, which prompts hospitals to offer many cost-effective services in a bid to get more fees from patients," Sujudi said.

    He said all professionals in hospitals should be full-time. "A doctor should only practice in a maximum of three different hospitals."

    However, many, if not most, Indonesian doctors worked for a series of different hospitals, leaving them with little time to communicate with their patients.

    "If we look (at hospitals) abroad, we find they are now more patient-oriented, while most of our hospitals are still doctor-oriented. Nurses here only serve doctors, not patients. This is wrong," Sujudi said.

    "Patients like to have good service. Being ill does not mean they should be treated authoritatively. We should learn to treat our patients more democratically," he said.

    Medical services director-general at the Ministry of Health Sri Astuti Suparmanto said doctors here often prescribed too many medicines.

    "In cases of flu, some doctors often prescribe more than one medicine, when one might be enough," she told the seminar.

    Reports of poor medical treatment at Indonesian hospitals were confirmed by the head of a marketing department at a prominent hospital in Jakarta.

    She told The Jakarta Post that although she was working for a hospital, she never underwent any medical treatment at home.

    "I know doctors and their abilities, and I know the service offered by hospitals here. For the sake my own health, I don't think I would be willing to be treated here," she said.

    "We should expect better service from both hospitals and doctors. To speed up improvements perhaps it would be better for hospitals here to combine in franchises with hospitals abroad," she said.

    She quoted marketing expert, Hermawan Kartajaya, who once said, "If we cannot compete with our enemies, we should make friends with them."

    There are about 1,000 private and 600 state hospitals in Indonesia.

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  10. It's so depressingly true, and the worse is probably hidden since the minister probably hide the worst cases coz it reflect bad upon him too.

    That bit about doctors working for more than one hospitals is so common. It's like they are racing to find out who can be richer in the shortest of time. Ah these people... but who can blame them tho' ... who doesn't want to sail in their own yacht or ... or ... golfing in the most prestigious of clubs.

    Thanks for the article Fer :)

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  11. actually.. i've heard from the media it's pretty bad here as well...
    shortage of doctors/nurses and hospital beds, etc. ...

    but luckily i've never had the need to be hopitalised so i dont have any first hand experience (and i hope i wont)...
    only with doctors that just give you around 5-15 minutes of consultation times then hustle you back out the door... very discouraging... :-(

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  12. Lucky you Fer, long may it be...

    I had to be hospitalized two years ago for one week coz of kidney problem (geez and i'm so young, non smoking, and non drinking, it's because when i was in college i used to choose sprite instead of water...silly me).

    Maybe the key is that we ourselves had to prevent dealing with those people by living a healthy life and or always demand our rights as a patient who pays (at least the insurance premi).

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  13. oh, actually.. when i was young i was in the hospital lots for various sickness... but now i'm pretty okay... maybe bcoz of all those antibiotic they pumped into me all those years or something... *blah* ;-P

    yeah.. try to lead a healthy life is probably the best option for our own good.... :-)

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  14. Yeah living in a clean environments also help Fer ... perhaps the air and the foods in Perth is clean so none of those radical cells developed in your body. Imagine me sometimes had to eat in the street where the 'abang2' is not necessarily hygiene [imagine seeing your 'nasi goreng' plate was dried by some 'kain pel' attached to the wheel of the cart] ... hehehe.

    Maybe we had developed this immune to the germs so it won't affect us anymore. You on the other hand had to be rather careful of what you eat when you 'pulang kampung' :D :D

    Btw, if you have time read also this and the link inside the page.

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  15. there you go again, discouraging me to go back... heheh...
    hmm... if you have qualms about the standard of hygiene of the street hawkers then why eat there? you really had no choice?

    i havent been sick much since i was 12.. like i said, i think i have enuff antibiotic pumped into me to last me a lifetime... maybe... :'-D

    thanks for the link... i've read the story from jkt post also...
    must be quite an experience... :-\

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  16. I ate there to develop an adequate antibody to survive in Jakarta Fer :D hihihi other wise we had to eat in a restaurant which is kinda boring. Me need bakso, siomay, gorengan, lumpia, cendol, and all these 'exotic' food you can only get in the street.

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