MovieChat Forums > Regeneration (1998) Discussion > Kevin McKidd gets tortured by the medics

Kevin McKidd gets tortured by the medics


I saw this film long ago and found it to be very moving. Watched it again to see K Mc's performance and realised his role although small was pivotal to the background of World War One in 1917.Was this story based on truth? Is that how soldiers were treated?

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Hey! I haven't seen this but I've read the book.
Who was his character tortured by? Was he the man they forced to speak using electronic shocks?
As far as I know, Craiglockhart, Rivers, and obviously Sassoon and Owen are all real, and both Owen and Sassoon stayed at craiglockhart, inspiring others. I think the book is based very closely on facts, thats what makes it so hard-hitting; the way the soldiers were treated and the absolute horror they went through!

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In the edition of the novel that I read, Pat Barker explained that the doctor's clinical notes still survive, and that what she wrote was the doctor's own description of how he treated that patient.

And thus all the more horrifying.

I have not yet seen this film but If it is anywhere near as good as the novel then it will have to be on the list of best anti-war films ever!

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Lewis Yealland was the doctor's name and he was very real. His findings paper "Hysterical Disorders in Warfare (1918)" can be found here:

http://www.archive.org/details/hystericaldisord00yealuoft

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His treatment is an indication of the worse treatment that other ranks were subjected to. All the personnel treated at Craiglockhart are officers, so no electric shocks for them.

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