French filmmaker Claire Simon's enlightening documentary captures day-to-day life in the gynecological wing of Hôpital Tenon, a public facility in Paris that caters to cisgender women and transgender patients. Simon took inspiration for the film from producer Kristina Larsen, who spent two years in a hospital, and from her father, who spent 28 years in a hospital due to multiple sclerosis (and was cremated in a nearby cemetery).
It's a real cradle-to-grave operation as patients give birth, undergo cancer treatment, or face a terminal diagnosis. "I hope I don't get cancer," Simon worries in her voice-over. While making her 11th documentary, that's exactly what happens, and she incorporates her experience into the film (since she shot during the pandemic, masks abound, though a few faces appear.)
She starts by introducing two women seeking to terminate their pregnancies, including a 15-year-old--wearing a hood and facing away from the camera--who talks to a healthcare professional about the unprotected sex that led to her condition. Though she's opposed to abortion, it's how she wants to resolve the situation. The adult patient has no such qualms.
Three transgender patients seek assistance with a variety of issues. The 17-year-old has begun transitioning with the support of his mother, but not his father, preventing him from legally changing his name. Once he turns 18, that will no longer be a problem, while the 28-year-old man and 60-year-old woman express concerns about their hormone therapy prescriptions.
Other patients seek treatment for endometriosis, infertility, ovarian cancer, and, in Simon's case, breast cancer. Though the conversations are intimate, she clearly earned the trust of patients and caregivers alike, and her matter-of-fact approach seems more respectful than not. Though she observes for the most part, she occasionally asks a few questions. She also includes some rather queasy-making shots of a C-section and laparoscopic surgery. At times there are no patients in the room, only doctors or lab technicians talking among themselves. In that sense, her film recalls the institutional documentaries of Frederick Wiseman.
Simon (The Competition) finished her film while undergoing treatment, but every story is different, and hers isn't representative. Some patients will get better and some won't. It doesn't help that some refuse to follow instructions, like the woman who insists on smoking and drinking, even though it's impeding her recovery. As Simon concludes, "It's a crazed waltz of destinies."
Though most of the healthcare professionals she depicts seem caring, particularly the obstetrician who helps to deliver a healthy baby girl for a mother who has to go it alone while her husband looks after their other children, Simon includes a protest by former patients who feel they were exploited while receiving care in which medical students were invited to observe without their consent. It's the one sign that this facility has sometimes overstepped its bounds, while otherwise providing the kind of attentive care most people--women, especially--hope to receive should they find themselves in need of medical attention.
What public library shelves would this title be on?
Claire Simon's 11th documentary would fit with other non-fiction or French-language films in public libraries. Simon has also directed six French-language narrative features, in addition to Le Village, a 20-episode documentary series.
What kind of film collection would this title be suitable for?
Our Body is suitable for public and academic library offerings in the health & wellness, women's studies, and LGBTQ areas.
What academic subjects would this film be suitable for?
Our Body would be suitable for film studies, women's studies, and human biology courses.