Maverick, mercurial young heart surgeon, recently returned from the US to Poland, takes on the conservative local medical hierarchy, as well as Communist bureaucracy, in his driving ambition to put Poland, patients,and himself in the forefront of world cardiology. With the film based on a true story, he challenges conventional thinking, inspires a renegade young team and strives to overcome obstructions and reverses, while struggling with his own demons in a cloud of cigarette smoke. Set around 1985, the subdued, but not dull, colour palette reflects the late Communist era, with tight, fast-moving editing, as well as framing. Sub-titled, sometimes in slightly questionable English, the script swings between narrative, tragedy and some comedy, with echoes of the Stephen Hawking Theory of Everything. Acting is of a satisfying standard, although some of the supporting parts are thinly characterised. The viewer must survive a good deal of gory surgery, which is more than can be said of some of the patients. Recommended.
