THE PHYSICIAN: Kingsley, Skarsgård & Martinez in Film Adaptation of Noah Gordan’s Persian Epic

The star-studded cast of the upcoming film “The Physician” are in Germany to begin filming.   American author Noah Gordon wrote the eponymous 1986 novel, which has been a bestseller across Europe, especially in Spain and Germany. (Source: persianrealm.com)

The plot follows the life of a Christian English boy in the 11th century who travels across Europe to Persia in order to study medicine. He ends up pretending to be Jewish so he can learn from the masters in what is now modern day Iran, which at the time led the world in science and medicine. The Shah of Persia (played by French Star Oliver Martinez), opens the door for the character to finally gain access to the country’s hallowed school of physicians and the leading physician of the time Ibn’ Sina known in the West as Avicenna.

More Photos of Cast and Crew Here

Ben Kingsley, “The Physician” Cast Filming in Germany(Aug 7, 2012 by ‪NTDTV):

Meeting Author Noah Gordon (

‪OpenRoadMediaVideos, Jun 5, 2012) :

“I could think of absolutely nothing finer in the world than to become a writer,” says Noah Gordon, whose internationally bestselling novels include The Physician and Shaman.  The Physician, soon to be a motion picture, has been called a modern classic. In 1999, booksellers at the Madrid Book Fair voted it “one of the 10 best-loved books of all time.” Shaman was awarded the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for historical fiction.   In this video, watch Gordon describe his passions for both medical and historical fiction, as well as his near brush with a career as a doctor–before turning those interests into material for his novels.

The star-studded cast of the upcoming film “The Physician” are in Germany to begin filming.  

American author Noah Gordon wrote the eponymous 1986 novel, which has been a bestseller across Europe, especially in Spain and Germany.

Production and distribution companies UFA Cinema and Universal Pictures are hoping to capitalize that success on the big screen.  

“The Physician” tells the 11th century story of Rob Cole, an English surgeon’s apprentice, played by Tom Payne.

He studies under Stellan Skarsgård’s character, a barber surgeon, but Cole hopes to study in Persia, where medical and scientific knowledge is the most advanced.

However, with a ban on Christians at his target medical school, he must disguise himself as Jewish in order to proceed. [Tom Payne, Actor]: ”This job has been fantastic because it’s exactly what you want when you start the job, really.

You get to dress up and being in a different time and different place … within the same film I get to play the same guy but in completely different situations. Which as an actor is really really fun.”  

The film is directed by German director Philipp Stölzl, who hopes to convey the historical affect that the Orient had on science in the past millenia.  

[Philipp Stölzl, Director]: ”I like that fact that the ‘The Physician’ as a novel and ultimately as a movie, reminds us that the majority of our culture, as we enjoy it today, has its roots in the Orient. Medicine, number, astronomy and so on.”  

Ben Kingsley, who plays the revered Persian polymath Ibn Sina, jumped into the movie without having read the book.  

[Ben Kingsley, Actor]: ”I haven’t had time, believe it or not. And this came together rather quickly for me. And I decided rather that being influenced by the novel Philipp asked me to live inside the novel. So I just examined my relationship with my fellow actors and my environment. And I find that quite exhilarating.”  

The film is scheduled to be released around Christmas 2013.

Recommended Book:

The Physician by Noah Gordon

THE PHYSICIAN: Kingsley, Skarsgård & Martinez in Film Adaptation of Noah Gordan’s Persian Epic

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