The bottom line I was basically trying to get at is this: Do you think that, perhaps, in his own little way, the doctor may have suspected that the wife Elena herself was somehow responsible for his death, and with his speech, do you think that, perhaps, there was a point to it that "she should have been more responsible", and do you think that in a way at least, because she DID murder him (and we DO know that, right?), even if the murder itself wasn't wide openly evident, the lack of responsibility somehow WAS, hence his saying "Even teenagers have more sense", which probably in the context of the situation, meant that "she should have known every little detail as to what medicine the man was taking"!
Heck, maybe even with her being a nurse and all (and maybe that doctor knew it as well), he was criticizing her for making a highly unprofessional mistake of not checking up on him and knowing that he had a Viagra on him and that he could take it so easily after a heart attack.
Of course, we, as audience, know the REAL truth, whereas the doctor doesn't (dramatic irony).
But I'm sure that, of course, in ANOTHER situation, if that or another doctor said that, he probably WOULD get into at least SOME sort of trouble, and a complaint towards him would be made regardless of what consequences he ended up facing or beyond "how common it is in Russia" and all that. And please do NOT assume that just because it happens in Russia, and that, according to some people this is how they are all like, doctors would just get away with it without facing some consequences. I actually know some MODERN DAY examples where this has NOT been the case.
The only REAL reason as to why Elena did NOT complain about the doctor's speech towards her like that was because she was RESPONSIBLE for the MURDER of her husband, and that way, she also, at least on a pure subconscious level, did not want to arouse unwanted suspicion or a potential further investigation into his death, by medical staff or otherwise.
I suppose that probably explains why, in that scene, she was also very laconic, answering in very few words BEFORE the doctor's notorious "Teenagers with more sense" speech ("I honestly did not even know that he had this medicine on him"), and after ("You could be more tactful"), so as to avoid arousing unnecessary suspicion so that no potential truth about her murdering her husband could possibly be revealed.
I was kind of hoping that most repliers in here would answer along THOSE lines and in the context of THE given situation, rather than just state things alone the lines of "Yeah, its just the way it is and this is just how these people are like etc" without adding further depth.
And just because something is a "reality", doesn't mean it is not worth discussing beyond "it being what it is"! Earthquakes, cancer, heart attacks and wives who kill their husbands are ALSO a reality, doesn't mean we have no reason to discuss the whys and whats of them happening and how they could be avoided. The fact that some people are super intelligent and are extremely rich plus very happy in their lives is ALSO a reality. Hope you get my point!
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nqure
10 years ago
I thought it provided a bit of black humour in the film. Elena plays along with the Doctor & I agree it is about the context. He is brusque but it's got nothing to do with the rudeness of doctors in Eastern Europe. I've watched 'The Death of Mr Lazarescu' (Romania), which is an indictment of hospital care, but not just in Romania but probably everywhere.
I think 'Elena' is a film about ambivalence. I personally didn't view Elena as 'evil' as we try to comprehend the reasons behind her drastic action. Take the scene at the funeral. She sobs in grief. How are we supposed to view her? I believe part of her does genuinely mourn for Vladimir, she also weeps for what she has done (guilt) but, perhaps out of a sense of fear, she also plays the role of grieving widow.
It is too complex a film to make black & white judgements. Katerina doesn't appear to care for her father. In the hospital, she then seems to show genuine feeling towards him as they share a strange but intellectual conversation that he never shares with Elena. The actress is superb at showing Katya's grief at the funeral where she gradually loses her composure at the sight of his body. And then she flippantly remarks after the solicitor announces the will, 'So how are we going to share Dad's pad?' (from what I remember)
The director is constantly playing with how we are supposed to view the characters.
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przgzr
10 years ago
There is one more point. Viagra isn't dangerous for people with heart diseases because of its effect on heart, but because of its (potentially lethal) interaction with some medications frequently used for treatment of some heart diseases, especially after a heart attack. As a nurse Elena must have known it (we know that she did, that's why she gave him both pills). So she must avoid any investigation because as a nurse she would become an immediate suspect. However, the doctor believes that Vladimir took Viagra because they were having sex. Only a week after a heart attack it is very risky to have an intercourse, so that is why the doctor compares them to teenagers (who don't take any precausions and have sex in every occasion they can).
Now Elena has to admit her fault: either she had sex with Vladimir and that was why he took Viagra (if she didn't know that he had taken it she was still supposed to know that they should have delayed sex for several weeks at least) or she gave it to him knowing what other medications he was taking (what makes it a first degree murder). Of course she accepts the first option, because nothing serious can really happen to her - she doens't risk even losing a work licence because she is already retired, and with her new inheritance she won't ever need to work again. Therefore it's safe to swallow some of doctor's criticism even in form of insults (is it really an insult if he told her what she professionally had to know?) rather than give anybody a reason for suspicion.
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