Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Tom Payne | ... | ||
Stellan Skarsgård | ... |
Barber
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Olivier Martinez | ... |
Shah Ala ad Daula
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Emma Rigby | ... |
Rebecca
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Elyas M'Barek | ... |
Karim
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Fahri Yardim | ... |
Davout Hossein
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Makram Khoury | ... |
Imam
(as Makram J. Khoury)
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Michael Marcus | ... |
Mirdin
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Ben Kingsley | ... | ||
Stanley Townsend | ... |
Bar Kappara
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Emil Marwa | ... |
Tuveh Ben Meir
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Martin Hancock | ... |
Merlin
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Adam Thomas Wright | ... |
Rob Cole (10 Years)
(as Adam Wright)
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Jodie McNee | ... |
Agnes Cole
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Dominique Moore | ... |
Despina
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When nine-year-old Rob Cole felt the life force slipping from his mother's hand he could not foresee that this terrifying awareness of impending death was a gift that would lead him from the familiar life of 11th-century London to small villages throughout England and finally to the medical school at Ispahan. Though apprenticed to an itinerant barber surgeon, it is the dazzling surgery of a Jewish physician trained by the legendary Persian physician Avicenna that inspires him to accept his gift and to commit his life to healing by studying at Avicenna's school. Despite the ban on Christian students, Rob goes there, disguising himself as a Jew to gain admission. Gordon has written an adventurous and inspiring tale of a quest for medical knowledge pursued in a violent world full of superstition and prejudice. Written by Literary Guild alternate
A film worth watching, a journey worth embarking. Although it is not 100% historically accurate, the film is set in medieval times and portrays the scientific advances in midst of the ideological conflict between the Christian, Muslim, and the Jewish world. There are many important lessons that this film teaches. It raises difficult moral questions and the conflicts between religious moderate and extremists. In a time when scientific discoveries were not encouraged by the Catholic Church, the main character - a young believer in Christ - explores the world to find answers to human pain and sickness. I recommend it specially for those who enjoy the debates of science and religion, and the complex philosophical questions we all need to reflect upon.