The Country Doctor of Chaussy

Dr. Jean-Pierre Werner (François Cluzet) belongs to a dying breed. He has been working as a country doctor for 30 years, and his services are called upon day after day by the residents of the small village community. Dr. Werner knows that there is an enormous shortage of doctors in the region and that the people here depend on him. But then he suddenly becomes seriously ill himself and has to come to terms with the idea that he will have to leave the job he has lived for for the last few decades in the hands of a successor. Sooner than he thought, that successor is in the form of the self-assured Dr. Nathalie Delezia (Marianne Denicourt), who would be willing to jump right into the new job. But Dr Werner is not prepared to give up so easily what he has worked so hard for - especially as that would mean having to accept his illness.

With The Country Doctor of Chaussy, trained doctor and director Thomas Lilti attempts to create as realistic a picture as possible of the situation of doctors in rural France. Through an affectionate character drawing and restrained humour, however, a pleasant entertainment value is also to be built up, which acts as a counterbalance to the somewhat heavier moments. The result is a charming, but also a little bit unwieldy film that addresses a very important problem that more and more regions in Germany are also facing.

The feat that Lilti manages is not to fall too much into soft-spoken country doctor romance. He also shows the very difficult sides of the profession, such as when it comes to helping a person die with dignity. But although especially such moments seem a bit depressing in their authentic realization, his production succeeds very well in conveying a positive attitude towards life to the viewer. In this way, he succeeds in sensitizing his audience to the problems addressed in the film without pushing their spirits into the basement. Especially since the film shows so well how important doctors are for people in rural areas, this could have happened all too easily.

With good actors, a very restrained dramaturgy and a certain lightness, Thomas Lilti has succeeded in making a small, charming film, which has its somewhat tough moments, but which can leave an all-round positive overall impression. For this, there is also for lovers of the more sophisticated entertainment cinema from France a very clear: Worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp