Anatomists, The
Click here to screen
Synopsis
Ground-breaking series on the history, psychology and philosophy of anatomy. A gory, macabre, but thoughtful exploration of the history of the uncovering of our internal workings and how each discovery has affected humanity's perception of itself.
The Anatomists tracks the history of this morbid science from the ancient practice of human vivisection in the Greek Empire to the candle-lit circus anatomies of Renaissance Italy and on to the endemic grave-robbing of 19th century Britain. The series tells how these gifted revolutionaries were the founding fathers of modern medicine but how their centuries of learning came at a very bloody price. Bodies had to be procured whatever the cost and today’s anatomists are still haunted by the charge of ‘body snatching’. German anatomist Gunther Van Hagen’s has toured the world with his exhibitions and has provoked outrage from religious organisations and the courts, but the crowds keep coming. Over eight million people have queued for hours to see the bizarrely posed bodies – a man stripped of his skin astride an equally skinless horse, a chess player deep in thought, his brain exposed, and a woman reclining on her side to reveal a five month old foetus nestled inside. But he is not the first to have dragged anatomy out of the shadows. But is Von Hagens merely a gruesome showman exploiting our lurid fascination for guts and gore or rather the latest in a long line of brilliant scientists who have dragged their dark craft out of the shadows of the dissection chamber and on to centre stage?
Duration
3 x 50'
Definition
SD
Genre
Factual
Subgenre
Science
Producer
WINDFALL FILMS LTD