Awakenings is a 1990 drama film based on Oliver Sacks' memoir of the same name. It tells the true story of Oliver Sacks, fictionalized as American Malcolm Sayer and played by Robin Williams who, in 1969, discovers beneficial effects of the then-new drug L-Dopa. He administered it to catatonic patients who survived the 1917-1928 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica. Leonard Lowe (played by Robert De Niro) and the rest of the patients were awakened after decades of catatonic state and have to deal with a new life in a new time.
Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, John Heard, Ruth Nelson, Julie Kavner, Penelope Ann Miller and Max von Sydow. The film has a cameo from jazz legend Dexter Gordon (who died before the film's release) who appears as a patient and then-unknowns Vin Diesel and Vincent Pastore play an hospital orderly and a psyche ward patient.
Plot
Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) is a dedicated, caring physician with some social issues who finds it easy to grow close to his patients but difficult to connect with others; we witness his social awkwardness early in the film when nurse Eleanor Costello (Julie Kavner) invites Sayer out for a friendly cup of coffee, which he declines with mild discomfort, much to her confusion. We see that while the two colleagues connect easily in the professional environment, Sayer struggles with casual social acquaintance.
After working extensively with the catatonic patients who survived the 1917-1928 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica, Sayer and Eleanor discover certain things will reach beyond the patients' respective catatonic states; actions such as catching a ball thrown at them, hearing specific genres of music, and experiencing human touch all have unique effects on particular patients and offer a glimpse into their worlds. Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro) proves elusive in this regard, prompting Sayer to visit Leonard's mother (Ruth Nelson) at home to better understand his patient. A daily visitor and carer for Leonard, she tells Sayer that Leonard had been an avid reader during much of his pre-catatonic early confinement with the encephalitis. Sayer soon discovers that by using a Ouija board with Leonard's hands on the planchette and Sayer's hands on top, Leonard is able to communicate. He spells out "RILKE PANTHER", and on a hunch Sayer heads to the local library and discovers a book of Rainer Maria Rilke poems, one of which is entitled "The Panther." Sayer is more determined than ever to find a breakthrough to help his patients return to reality.
After attending a lecture at a local university on the subject of the L-Dopa drug and its success with patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease, Sayer believes the drug may offer a breakthrough for his own group of patients. A trial run with Leonard Lowe yields astounding results as Leonard completely "awakens" from his catatonic state; this success inspires Sayer to ask for funding from donors so that all the catatonic patients can receive the L-Dopa medication and experience "awakenings" back to reality. Indeed, the patients "awaken" seemingly en masse after receiving the drug as the hospital staff scrambles to manage the care of what is effectively a completely different group of patients, each with their own personality and care needs. The staff help the patients come to terms with the new time period they find themselves in, which is more difficult for some than for others.
Meanwhile, Leonard is adjusting to his new life and becomes romantically interested in Paula (Penelope Ann Miller), the daughter of another hospital patient and begins spending time with her when she comes to the hospital to visit her father. Leonard also begins to chafe at the restrictions placed upon him as a patient of the hospital, desiring the freedom to come and go as he pleases and stirs up a bit of a revolt in the process of arguing his case repeatedly to Sayer and the hospital administration. His mother is increasingly puzzled by his newfound defiance and blames the drug for his personality change. Sayer notices that as Leonard grows more agitated battling administrators and staff about his perceived confinement, a number of facial and body tics are starting to manifest and Leonard has difficulty controlling them.
Leonard and Sayer clash with the hospital administration, who refuse to let any of the patients outside on their own. Sayer reluctantly agrees with the decision, putting him at odds with Leonard, who has come to fully appreciate every aspect of life after being effectively asleep for so many years. While Sayer and the hospital staff continue to delight in the success of L-Dopa with this group of patients, they soon find that it is a temporary measure. As the first to "awaken," Leonard is also the first to demonstrate the limited duration of this period of "awakening." Leonard's tics grow more and more prominent and he starts to shuffle more as he walks, and all of the patients are forced to witness what will eventually happen to them. He begins to suffer full body spasms and can hardly move, saying that he feels more like a series of tics than an actual human. Leonard, however, puts up well with the pain, and asks Sayer to film him, in hopes that he would some day contribute to research that may eventually help others. Leonard acknowledges sadly what is happening to him and has a last lunch with Paula where he tells her he cannot see her anymore; his tics fully in evidence, he gets up with difficulty to leave as Paula stops him and dances slowly with him in a farewell gesture of her own, which calms his tics and allows him to enjoy the dance. Leonard and Dr. Sayer reconcile their differences, but Leonard returns to his catatonic state soon after, which is painful for the nurses, Sayer and especially Leonard's mother. The other patients' fears are similarly realized as each eventually returns to catatonia no matter how much their L-Dopa dosages are increased.
Sayer tells a group of grant donors to the hospital that although the "awakening" did not last, another kind — one of learning to appreciate and live life — took place. Nevertheless, Sayer still finds himself depressed for failing to keep Leonard "awake," but Eleanor tells him that he is still a good person and Leonard considered him his best friend. Sayer, remembering Leonard's advice on living every minute of life, asks Eleanor to join him for a cup of coffee, echoing the early awkward exchange in the film now profoundly changed by Leonard's lessons on life. Eleanor accepts, and the two walk to the coffee shop.
The film ends with Sayer standing over the once again-catatonic Leonard behind a Ouija board, with his hands on Leonard's hands which man the planchette. "Let's begin," Sayer says.
Academy Award nominations
The film received three Academy Award nominations:
References in popular culture
The film's plot was also the basis for the second movement of the Dream Theater song "Octavarium".
In the Fox TV show, House, Season 3, episode 7, "Son of a Coma Guy", Dr. House, when preparing to wake a patient from a vegetative state with L-DOPA, comments: "We've all seen Awakenings, made me cry...I want to cry."
External links
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