De Humani Corporis Fabrica

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De Humani Corporis Fabrica

2023

1h 58m

Documentary

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

97%

Tomatometer

37 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Five centuries ago, anatomist André Vésale opened up the human body to science for the first time in history. Today, De Humani Corporis Fabrica opens the human body to the cinema. It reveals that human flesh is an extraordinary landscape that exists only through the gaze and attention of others. As places of care, suffering and hope, hospitals are laboratories that connect every body in the world.

Critics Consensus

Equally gross and engrossing, De Humani Corporis Fabrica probes into the flesh with a scalpel to reveal not just the bloody innards but the fabric of our social construct -- and it's quite cathartic.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

07/04/2023

5/5

The epic results simultaneously function as endoscopic body horror, as a portrait of overworked and underfunded medical staff and as a business study of death.

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Claudia Puig

FilmWeek (LAist)

05/17/2023

Just as repulsive and fascinating as it sounds.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

05/15/2023

4/5

Much of the film immerses us in an unknowable, unrecognisable world under the skin, without shape, without what Vesalius wanted to show us in the 16th century. It is an uncanny spectacle.

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Pat Mullen

POV Magazine

08/25/2023

De Humani Corporis Fabrica breaks the boundaries of cinema to marvel at the complexities of our bodies, but also the limitations of them. The juicy insides are gross, squishy, and messy—and a thing of beauty.

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Peter Keough

Arts Fuse

07/14/2023

As in their astonishing and immersive Leviathan, extreme close-ups and shots taken from odd places and angles sometimes transform what is seen into elegant and sublime abstractions.

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Robin Clifford

Reeling Reviews

07/06/2023

B+

Keep in mind, we are talking the nuts and bolts of a hospital system, so graphic is the rule, rather than the exception. Expect to see an autopsy, cancerous tissue, a caesarean birth, a cornea transplant, a graphic spine operation and much more.

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Lucien Castaing-Taylor

Director

Verena Paravel

Director

Lucien Castaing-Taylor

Writer

Verena Paravel

Writer

Pauline Gygax

Producer

Max Karli

Producer

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Synopsis

Five centuries ago, anatomist André Vésale opened up the human body to science for the first time in history. Today, De Humani Corporis Fabrica opens the human body to the cinema. It reveals that human flesh is an extraordinary landscape that exists only through the gaze and attention of others. As places of care, suffering and hope, hospitals are laboratories that connect every body in the world.

Director: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel
Producer: Pauline Gygax, Max Karli, Valentina Novati
Screenwriter: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel
Distributor: Grasshopper Film
Production Co: Cinéforom, Norte Productions, La Procirep-Angoa, Loterie Suisse Romande, Succés Passage Antenne, CG Cinéma, Sensory Ethnography Lab (SEL), Office Fédéral de la Culture, Rita Productions, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC), La Région Île-de-France
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: French
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 14, 2023, Limited
Runtime: 1h 58m