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Dr Maurice Bucke is the superintendant of an 'insane' asylum in the 1880s. He is at odds with the medical establishment as he believes in treating patients with love and kindness. Others believe in confinement, lobotomies, shock treatment and hysterectomies. This is not the age of tenderness.

In the doctor's search for a greater understanding of his role he comes across one of America's greatest writers - WALT WHITMAN. The poet is both revered and reviled as a prophet of the new age. The two strike up a bond that leads to Whitman joining the doctor/patient relationship; they turn a place of horror into a place of beauty and joy; they give disabled people the chance to fulfil their real potential and show the rest of us that they have a place in our community. They created one of the greatest partnerships of modern times.

Director:

John Harrison [7],

Starring:

Rip Torn [30], Colm Feore [19], Colin Fox [4], Wendel Meldrum [1], Sheila McCarthy [3],

Screen Formats:

Full Frame 1.33:1

Language and Sound:

English Dolby Digital Stereo

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