Awakenings

This article is about the 1990 lm. For the 1973 non- oer a breakthrough for his own group of patients. A
ction book, see Awakenings (book). For other uses, see trial run with Leonard yields astounding results: Leonard
Awakening (disambiguation).
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 medicaAwakenings is a 1990 American drama lm based on
Oliver Sacks' 1973 memoir of the same title. It tells the tion and experience awakenings back to reality.
Meanwhile, Leonard is adjusting to his new life and becomes romantically interested in Paula (Penelope Ann
Miller), the daughter of another hospital patient. 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. He stirs up a revolt by arguing his case
to Sayer and the hospital administration. Sayer notices
that as Leonard grows more agitated, a number of facial
and body tics are starting to manifest, which Leonard has
Directed by Penny Marshall, the lm was produced by diculty controlling.
Walter Parkes and Lawrence Lasker, who rst encoun- While Sayer and the hospital sta are thrilled by the suctered Sackss book as undergraduates at Yale University cess of L-Dopa with this group of patients, they soon nd
and optioned it a few years later. Awakenings stars Robert that it is a temporary measure. As the rst to awaken,
De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson, Leonard is also the rst to demonstrate the limited duraJohn Heard, Penelope Ann Miller, and Max Von Sydow. tion of this period of awakening. Leonards tics grow
The lm features a non-speaking cameo from jazz legend more and more prominent and he starts to shue more
Dexter Gordon (who died before the lms release) and as he walks, and all of the patients are forced to witness
then-unknowns Bradley Whitford, Peter Stormare, and what will eventually happen to them. He soon begins to
Vincent Pastore play a doctor, neurochemist, and psych- suer full body spasms and can hardly move. Leonard
ward patient, respectively. Also, a then-unknown Vin puts up well with the pain, and asks Sayer to lm him, in
Diesel was in the lm playing a psych-ward orderly, but hopes that he would someday contribute to research that
may eventually help others. Leonard acknowledges what
he was uncredited.
is happening to him and has a last lunch with Paula where
he tells her he cannot see her anymore. When he is about
to leave, Paula dances with him, and for this short period
1 Plot
of time his spasms disappear. Leonard and Sayer reconcile their dierences, but Leonard returns to his catatonic
In 1969, Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) is a dedi- state soon after. The other patients fears are similarly
cated and caring physician at a local hospital in the New realized as each eventually returns to catatonia no matter
York City borough of The Bronx. After working exten- how much their L-Dopa dosages are increased.
true story of British neurologist Oliver Sacks, ctionalized as American Malcolm Sayer (portrayed by Robin
Williams), who, in 1969, discovered benecial eects
of the drug L-Dopa. He administered it to catatonic patients who survived the 191728 epidemic of encephalitis
lethargica. Leonard Lowe (played by Robert De Niro)
and the rest of the patients were awakened after decades
of catatonia and have to deal with a new life in a new time.
The lm was nominated for three Academy Awards.

sively with the catatonic patients who survived the 1917

1928 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica, Sayer discovers certain stimuli will reach beyond the patients respective catatonic states; actions such as catching a ball,
hearing familiar music, and experiencing human touch
all have unique eects on particular patients and oer
a glimpse into their worlds. Leonard Lowe (Robert De
Niro) proves elusive in this regard, but Sayer soon discovers that Leonard is able to communicate with him by
using a Ouija board.

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.
For example, he himself overcomes his painful shyness
and asks Nurse Eleanor Costello (Julie Kavner) to go out
for coee, many months after he had declined a similar
proposal from her. The nurses also now treat the catatonic patients with more respect and care, and Paula is
shown visiting Leonard. The lm ends with Sayer standing over Leonard behind a Ouija board, with his hands
After attending a lecture at a conference on the subject of on Leonards hands, which are on the planchette. Lets
the L-Dopa drug and its success with patients suering begin, Sayer says.
from Parkinsons Disease, Sayer believes the drug may
1

4 RECEPTION

Cast
Robert De Niro as Leonard Lowe
Robin Williams as Dr. Malcolm Sayer
Julie Kavner as Eleanor Costello
John Heard as Dr. Kaufman
Penelope Ann Miller as Paula
Max Von Sydow as Dr. Peter Ingham
Ruth Nelson as Mrs. Lowe
Alice Drummond as Lucy
Judith Malina as Rose
Anne Meara as Mirriam
Richard Libertini as Sidney
Keith Diamond as Anthony
Peter Stormare as Neurochemist
Bradley Whitford as Dr. Tyler
Dexter Gordon as Rolando

Production

Principal photography for Awakenings began on October

16, 1989 at the functioning Kingsboro Psychiatric Center in Brooklyn, New York and lasted until February 16,
1990. According to Williams, actual patients were used
in the lming of the movie.[3] In addition to Kingsboro,
sequences were also lmed at the New York Botanical
Garden, Julia Richman High School, the Casa Galicia,
and Park Slope, Brooklyn.[4]

Reception

Awakenings opened in limited release on December 22,

1990 with an opening weekend gross of $417,076.[2] The
lm then expanded to a wide release on January 11, 1991,
opening in second place behind Home Alone 's ninth
weekend, with $8,306,532.[5]

4.1

Critical response

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the lm a

four-out-of-four star rating, writing,
After seeing Awakenings, I read it, to
know more about what happened in that Bronx
hospital. What both the movie and the book
convey is the immense courage of the patients
and the profound experience of their doctors,
as in a small way they reexperienced what
it means to be born, to open your eyes and
discover to your astonishment that you are
alive.[8]
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praised the
lms performances, citing,
Theres a raw, subversive element in De
Niros performance: He doesn't shrink from
letting Leonard seem grotesque. Yet Awakenings, unlike the innitely superior Rain Man,
isn't really built around the quirkiness of its
lead character. The movie views Leonard piously; it turns him into an icon of feeling. And
so even if you're held (as I was) by the acting, you may nd yourself ghting the lms
design.[9]
Oliver Sacks, the author of the memoir on which the lm
is based, was pleased with a great deal of [the lm],
explaining,
I think in an uncanny way, De Niro did
somehow feel his way into being Parkinsonian.
So much so that sometimes when we were having dinner afterwards I would see his foot curl
or he would be leaning to one side, as if he
couldnt seem to get out of it. I think it was
uncanny the way things were incorporated. At
other levels I think things were sort of sentimentalized and simplied somewhat.[10]
Desson Howe of The Washington Post felt the lms tragic
aspects did not live up to the strength in its humor, saying
that
when nurse Julie Kavner (another former
TV being) delivers the main Message (life, she
tells Williams, is given and taken away from
all of us), it doesn't sound like the climactic
point of a great movie. It sounds more like a
line from one of the more sensitive episodes of
Laverne and Shirley.[11]

The lm received positive reviews from critics. Review

aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 88% of 31 lm Similarly, Janet Maslin of The New York Times concluded
critics have given the lm a positive review, with a rating her review stating,
average of 6.7 out of 10.[6] Metacritic, which assigns a
weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from main"Awakenings works harder at achieving
stream critics, gives the lm a score of 74 based on 18
such misplaced liveliness than at winning its
reviews.[7]
audience over in other ways.[12]

4.2

Accolades

The lm was nominated for three Academy Awards,

including: the Academy Award for Best Picture, the
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the
Academy Award for Best Actor (Robert De Niro). Robin
Williams was also nominated at the 48th Golden Globe
Awards for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama.

See also

References

[1] Box Oce Information for Awakenings. The Wrap. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
[2] Awakenings (1990) Box Oce Mojo. Box Oce
Mojo. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
[3] Robin Williams Interview on the Tonight Show, 1991.
Tonight Show. NBC. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
[4] Awakenings Details. Sony Pictures Television. Sony
Movie Channel. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
[5] Broeske, Pat H. (January 14, 1991). Home Alone in 9th
Week as No. 1 Film : Movies: 'Godfather Part III' takes
dramatic slide from second to sixth place in its third week
out. 'Awakenings is in second.. The Los Angeles Times.
Retrieved 2011-01-01.
[6] Awakenings. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 16,
2013.
[7] Awakenings. Metacritic. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
[8] Ebert, Roger (December 20, 1990). Awakenings ::
rogerebert.com :: Reviews. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
[9] Gleiberman, Owen (December 21, 1990). Awakenings
Review. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 16,
2013.
[10] Garner, Dwight (December 23, 1996). The last curious
man. Salon. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
[11] Howe, Desson (January 11, 1991). "'Awakenings". The
Washington Post. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
[12] Maslin, Janet (December 20, 1990). Movie Review
Awakenings. The New York Times. Retrieved February
16, 2013.

External links
Awakenings at the Internet Movie Database
Awakenings at the TCM Movie Database
Awakenings at AllMovie

Awakenings at Box Oce Mojo

Awakenings at Rotten Tomatoes

8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

Awakenings Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awakenings?oldid=671637591 Contributors: The Anome, Zoe, Ahoerstemeier, John

K, Hankwang, LGagnon, Graeme Bartlett, DocWatson42, Vfp15, Zigger, OldakQuill, Antandrus, Demonslave, Notinasnaid, TMC1982,
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JAnDbot, Ekabhishek, Bzuk, Vl'hurg, .anacondabot, Wildhartlivie, Easchi, VoABot II, JamesBWatson, WallyFromColumbia, Presearch,
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8.2

Images

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8.3

Content license

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