Sandwiched between a short sequence set in the year 1907 (or whereabout) the plot tells the story of Lady Florence, a single-minded woman from a wealthy family who decided that her life's mission was taking care of humankind, mostly in the shape of soldiers.
She started her mission in London, as a head nurse in a hospital and continued during the Crimean war, where she and her group of nurses were appalled at the squalid and filthy conditions of the "military hospital".
Obviously, high ranking officers despised her and did their best to render her useless but they did not succeed and from then on Florence dedicated her life to filantropic missions.
Despite the feminist message clearly resounding with Florence trying her best in a man's world, the narrative suffers from its theatrical origins, feeling claustrophobic and suffocating. Florence does get much space to shine, both because she was self-effacing and because her story was not made for the screen, being about hard work, patience and endurance, not the stuff blockbusters are made from.
She started her mission in London, as a head nurse in a hospital and continued during the Crimean war, where she and her group of nurses were appalled at the squalid and filthy conditions of the "military hospital".
Obviously, high ranking officers despised her and did their best to render her useless but they did not succeed and from then on Florence dedicated her life to filantropic missions.
Despite the feminist message clearly resounding with Florence trying her best in a man's world, the narrative suffers from its theatrical origins, feeling claustrophobic and suffocating. Florence does get much space to shine, both because she was self-effacing and because her story was not made for the screen, being about hard work, patience and endurance, not the stuff blockbusters are made from.