Bethune: The Making Of A Hero 1990 Screenplay by Ted Allan and directed by Phillip Borsos. Ted Allan meet Bethune 5 years before Bethune's death in 1939, he wanted to make a film about Bethune as early as 1942. Allan submitted scripts to major studios but nothing ever happened. Allan got nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing and won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film for Lies My Father Told Me.
Donald Sutherland plays Bethune for the third time with this film. Unless you are Canadian or Chinese you probably haven't heard of Norman Bethune. The Chinese still revere him, General Mao wrote his eulogy, Canadians were taught about Bethune in school in the 60s. I don't know if they still teach about him anymore.
The film covers Bethune's life in Canada's medical profession, his work doctoring soldiers in the Spanish Civil War and his work doctoring the soldiers of the Eight Route Army. He died of sepsis after cutting himself while operating.
Bethune is seen as an important factor in nationalizing medical systems and advocating for the health of the poor. He joined the Canadian Communist party and wasn't too well accepted by the upper echelons of the medical profession. He was a troubled man with grand ideas and no patience. Complicated guy, not someone I would want to work with.
There are plenty of good locations in Canada, Spain and China. There's a good cast with Helen Mirren, Colm Feore, Ronald Pickup, Geoffrey Chater, James Hong, Anouk Aimée and Helen Shaver.
I mostly enjoyed the biopic, I gave it a 6 out of 10 but decided I didn't need to watch it again. You can watch a nice copy on the Internet Archive.
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