True story:  in college I trained to be an EMT not only for some health credits but also to make a little money on the side.  One of the requirements was to work at the local hospital emergency room as a kind of jack-of-all-trades.  So on my first night (I worked third shift) at the local emergency room, I was introduced to the staff and the attending physician who promptly said, “Come with me.  I have a job for you.”  He took me down a long hall and into a freight elevator that headed towards the basement.   As we entered the hospital morgue, he pointed to the only slab that wasn’t empty.  On the slab was a newborn infant that had died during birth.  My very first assignment was to wrap the infant in a blanket and bring it to the mother for final viewing.  That same doctor asked for my help in stitching the face and eye of a hysterical five-year-old and yelled at me for accidentally touching the sterile tray with my forearm as I struggled to hold the child down while simultaneously trying to soothe him with my words.  At the end of the evening, I was sure they would let me go; I was unsure as to whether or not that was necessarily a bad thing.  The doctor grabbed my arm as I tried to sneak out, winked at me, and told me, “Good job tonight.  See you next week.”  Talk about your highs and lows….

I tell this story because my experience is not unique.  In fact, just about every character in the ensemble piece Skin and Bone experiences the same spectrum of emotion.  Set in a cardiac clinic, this film short (around 35 minutes) depicts a day in the lives of a group of people intimately involved with the clinic.  We have the overbearing and volatile attending physician Bradley Lindeman (John Depew), and his regular staff, including Dr. Lindeman’s even-tempered right-hand man and intern, Mike (Philip Magcalas) and the strong-willed and stubborn nurse manager Audrey (Tsana Dimanin) who isn’t afraid to stand up to Dr. Lindeman.  We also meet Becca, an attractive young lady undergoing an outpatient procedure as well as Anna, a patient that is having difficulty understanding what is happening due to her limited English language ability.  A third patient is a middle-aged woman admitted for a heart attack.  She is visited by her two sons who deal with this difficult time in markedly different ways.  And on this hectic day, Anthony (Shaun Butler) has traveled halfway across the world to shadow the world-famous Dr. Lindeman and learn what it is like to run a cath lab.

But the real stars of the film are Allen McRae as Tom and Cassandra Meyer as Michelle, who play roommates who are both starting their first day on the job as cardiovascular technologists.  Eager to please the staff yet unprepared for the maelstrom of activity they are thrown into, both suffer ego-bursting tirades from Dr. Lindeman but at the end of the day are able to look back and see some small victories as well.

As dramatic as any episode of ER, this powerful little film rings much more true than any television medical drama.  Alternately nerve-wrackingly intense and funny, writer/director and costar Philip Magcalas has created a touching and thought-provoking film about the health care field and presented in multiple perspectives:  the professional medical staff; professionals observing the goings-on of the facility; overwhelmed new employees; patients; and even patients’ family members.  Each of these characters is intimately connected to the others on one level or another and each character undergoes a deeply personal—and very different—experience than the others, though each experience is no less important than the rest.
The film ends with a bit of a twist that I don’t want to give away for fear of lessening the impact.  Suffice to say that the ending is raw and emotional as well as tender as the staff works on one of their own.  Each actor plays his or her part superbly and Magcalas’ direction is spot-on.  The wonderful score only serves to enhance the impact of this film.

This terrific film is made all the more remarkable by the fact that the budget was $500 and both cast and crew were composed of volunteers.  This proves the utter devotion the cast and crew had for both the material as well as to director Magcalas.  The film is a work of love and a treat for the viewer, made even better by the fact that it can be purchased for only $7.99 (tax and postage included) from Milk and Cookie Productions by clicking here.  A film worth seeing and highly recommended.