The dark side of Da Vinci...
by Tanya Reed

THE world of robotics may never be the same after The Man Who Ate Himself to Death, featuring Ara Darzi’s Da Vinci robot, was filmed at St Mary’s Hospital last month.

The brainchild of Richard Harris, director of Brighton video production company Bigbamboo who admits to having ‘a certain attraction to gore’, the ten minute film is scheduled to be shown at next year’s Brighton film festival.

Crew from Bigbamboo get to grips with equipment in the academic surgery unit

It introduces Professor Jim Swallow, played by Stephen Payne, as a leading expert in medical robotics who spends the final months of his life quietly eating himself to death, helped by Da Vinci while turning the results into a cookery programme.

 “I wrote the script two years ago on holiday in the Canaries and knew it was unmakeable — where would I get a robot surgeon from?” explained the director.

 “When I read a four-page article on Da Vinci earlier this year in which the machine even looked like I imagined — a brooding praying mantis — I emailed a synopsis to Ara Darzi and was stunned when he agreed.

“Filming isn’t ordered like operations, but the shoot went extremely well. However, the first assistant director was very queasy; a hospital was the last place in the world he wanted to make a film.”

The crew spent three days working with staff in the academic surgery unit under the watchful eye of Lee Edwards, Director of the Virtual Theatre project and Shirley Martin, nurse practitioner in surgical technology.  “It’s a slightly obscure, slightly arty film,” agreed Lee. “Shirley and I were on hand to help with the environment and make sure they didn’t damage anything; they were very good at fitting in with hospital routine.

“Although the filming did cause some disruption, it was fascinating to watch, especially the way in which both film crew and directors interacted.  We only had problems when the director yelled ‘Cut!’ but I’m sure the actor will recover — eventually!”