by Laura Lai Film’s Title: The Story of Louis Pasteur Cast: Paul Muni (Louis Pasteur), Josephine Hutchinson (Marie Pasteur, wife), Anita Louise (Annette Pasteur, daughter), Fritz Leiber (Dr. Charbonnet), Walter Kingsford (Napoleon III), Leonid Snegoff (Russian Ambassador) Written by: Sheridan Gibney & Pierre Collings Director: William Dieterle Words like ‘pandemic’, ‘lockdown’, ‘coronavirus’ and ‘vaccine’ are, most probably, the most repeated words daily and everywhere. I remember that at the beginning it just was a regional epidemic, then it became global pandemic, and that everybody was waiting for a vaccine. Then the first vaccine came, then a second one, a third, a fourth and so on. Now that we have several vaccines to choose from, they are regarded by some as salvation and as the devil by the others. Some people get vaccinated full of hope, others get vaccinated by obligation, and others are skeptical. But the most amazing thing about this global pandemic story is the fact that world’s laboratories could come up with a vaccine in just one year of pandemic. That is amazing! The movie The Story of Louis Pasteur is the story of a fabulous medical discovery: the vaccine against rabies – an infectious disease, which causes both people and animals to go mad and die. Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) is a French chemist who researched the action and the consequences of bacteria on people and on animals’ bodies. He discovered the staphylocous (an infectious bacterium that can cause anthrax, septicemia, etc.) and the streptocous (an infectious bacterium that can cause meningitis, scarlet fever, etc.). He discovered the vaccine against rabies in 1885, after 15 years of research. The movie covers the period from 1860 to 1885, when Pasteur’s invention was recognized by the French Academy. The movie, instead, got recognition from the American Film Academy with Oscar prizes for Best Actor, Writing, and for Screenplay. Pasteur’s goal was to stop the negligence of those practicing medicine when neglecting the destructive role of bacteria. His motto was: ‘find the microbe, kill the microbe.’ In this sense, he was encouraging midwives and doctors to boil the instruments after each medical intervention and to wash their hands before an intervention. Invited by the emperor Napoleon III, he failed to convince him about the importance of this matter, he got more enemies, high ranking enemies, and he had to leave Paris. He continued his research in the countryside. Several years later, he received the visit of some members of the French Medicine Academy because only the sheep vaccinated by him were surviving anthrax epidemic.
This movie is interesting because it presents Pasteur’s story. It researched the true story of anti-rabies vaccine and presented it to the public in an artistic way – which makes it both interesting and instructive. It is far from being boring. On the contrary, it also contains some funny scenes. For example, at the beginning of the movie, when Pasteur was invited by the emperor to speak about bacteria, some high-society women were trying to watch at the microscope the way the bacterium looks like - a funny scene, but with some misogynistic accents especially that men were not better than women at understanding it either. Approximately ten minutes later in the movie, when Pasteur got the visit of those from the French Medical Academy, he encouraged his countryside collaborators to use ‘a simple language’ so that they make themselves understood. In the movie, Pasteur’s character is depicted as being ironical. I particularly liked the wisdom in Pasteur’s words when forced by circumstances and at the insistence of the Russian Ambassador (Leonid Snegoff) to try his vaccine on a group of Russian people bitten by wolves volunteering to try the vaccine: ‘If our efforts can save one person, it’s worth the effort.’ And I liked Pasteur’s speech at the end of the movie when he was addressing the French Academy, acknowledging his discovery: You, young men, doctors and scientists of the future, Do not let yourself tempted by skepticism, nor discouraged by the sadness of certain hours that crippled the nations! Do not become angry at your opponents, for no scientific theory has been accepted without opposion! Live in the serene peace of libraries and laboratories. Say to yourself, first: What have I done for my instruction? And as you gradually advance: What am I accomplishing? Until the time comes when you may have the immense happiness thinking that you’ve contributed, in some way, to the welfare and progress of mankind.
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