SEMMELWEIS

This film revisits the figure of the Hungarian doctor known as “the saviour of mothers”, who, in the 19th century, drastically reduced mortality from postpartum infections by urging obstetricians to disinfect their hands. More than a biopic, it serves as a chronicle of that accidental yet vital discovery, as well as the boycott he faced from colleagues who deemed his theory as murderous. The legendary cinematographer Lajos Koltai (visual talent for filmmakers such as Márta Mészáros, István Szabó and Giuseppe Tornatore) directs this story, in the best tradition of classical cinema, about an extraordinary man who was willing to go to great lengths in his quest for knowledge and justice, while also revealing his obsessive and bad-tempered nature. Experience is the mother of all wisdom and long live Ignác Semmelweis’.