Living in Emergency – review

An arresting if limited film about the work of the medical-humanitarian group Médecins Sans Frontières, whose volunteer doctors provide emergency aid in some of the world's poorest, wartorn countries. Director Mark Hopkins has been allowed close access to MSF personnel, and we experience first-hand their warzone agony and frustration. They patch up the broken bodies (you'll need a strong stomach for what the poster calls "strong medical gore") but can do nothing about the fundamental political and economic problems. Each placement is temporary, which can lead to some tough goodbyes; the locals are disappointed and reproachful as the MSF doctors inevitably disappear elsewhere. Are they secretly addicted to "altruism thrills"? Is there a quick hit of euphoric excitement before whooshing off to another hotspot? I would have liked to see Hopkins press a little harder on this point.