Religion And Religion In The Film: The Physician

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The film I decided to analyze was that of “The Physician” (2013). The film follows the story of Rob Cole, a young Englishman in the 11th century with the ability to sense the impending death of an individual by simply touching them. Cole is orphaned at a very young age in the beginning of the film and pleads a traveling barber to take him in as an apprentice. He spends several years with the barber and ultimately learns how to “care” for certain ailments, however he does not deem this acquired knowledge as enough to truly care for those suffering of diseases and sets his sights on traveling to Persia to a city called Isfahan to learn from the greatest teacher, Ibn Sina. Cole, however, is a Christian and in the film Christians were not allowed …show more content…

One major component to the film is the laws against necromancy enforced by the three different prominent religions in the film. This law impedes any type of dissection, which Cole thinks is necessary in order to fully understand how the body works and in that way successfully cure ailments. However, Larsen argues that although “Islam does view medical dissection as a problematic issue, most contemporary experts on Islamic law agree that it’s permissible with a few limitations, and there’s no clear evidence that medieval Muslims were much different” and further adds that Ibn Siva would have likely not opposed to dissect a body if it meant that it could lead to a potential treatment. Furthermore, Larsen also explains that the representation of Muslim Mullahs was inaccurate. Larsen explains that Mullahs lead mosques, delivered sermons, and performed rituals, further suggesting that it can be compared to the role of a Christian priest or minister. However, in the film they exercise power that is not bestowed upon them like having legal authority, explains Larsen, further adding that this particular role was more fit for a qadis which were trained in Islamic law and served as judges. The film creators possibly saw this as an opportunity to place maximum emphasis on the power religion held in

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