Awakenings

 

On first glance, the film Awakenings may appear to be about the catatonic patients at a local hospital getting a second chance at life through the miracle of a wonder drug. The real surprise is that that is not what it is really about in the end. It is about a different, yet related, type of awakening, one experienced by the doctors of the hospital who get a wake-up call thanks to the experiences they go through while caring for the catatonic patients as they get their second chance at life, as brief as that is. Director Penny Marshall, who got her start in sitcoms and comedy features, shows here that she is also capable of crafting a film with deeper themes and does so in a way that will catch you off guard and give you some food for thought.

Robin Williams had done some drama at this point but was still mostly known for his over-the-top comedic characters in 1990. Even his more dramatic roles like Adrian Cronauer in Good Morning Vietnam were juxtaposed with madcap comedic energy. Then in 1989, Peter Weir cast him against type in Dead Poet’s Society, a film that jettisoned that over-caffeinated persona for a more subdued and nuanced performance that landed Williams an Academy Award nomination. After that, Robin Williams went back and forth between the crazy comedies and the serious dramas, sometimes in the same picture. He became a more respected actor that could handle both sides of the coin deftly, and that brought with it offers for some very interesting roles, including a second Oscar nomination for The Fisher King in 1991 and a third for Good Will Hunting in 1997, this time winning the award. All of that started in the late 1980s and rolled into the new decade. 

Robin Williams is playing Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a caring physician at a local hospital in the Bronx. Working extensively with the catatonic patients who survived the encephalitis lethargica epidemic in the 1920s, Sayer discovers that certain stimuli break through the catatonic state; actions like catching a ball, music, hearing their names, and physical contact all have their unique effects on some of the patients and offer valuable insight into their worlds. Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro) seems completely unresponsive, though, until Sayer discovers that he is able to communicate by using a Ouija board. The hospital board doesn’t show much interest in Sayer’s findings, feeling that the patients are acting reflexively and are not aware of their surroundings “because the alternative is unthinkable.”

While attending a lecture at a medical conference on a new drug for Parkinson’s disease, Sayer believes that it may offer a breakthrough for his own group of patients. This new drug, L-DOPA, has shown promise with Parkinson’s, but Sayer believes it is capable of treating more than just that condition. The hospital isn’t so sure and will only allow him to try it on one patient, but only with the express written consent from a legal guardian. Sayer gets that permission from Leonard’s mother, and the resulting treatment yields astounding results. Leonard completely “awakens” from his catatonic state and is fully aware of his surroundings. This success inspires Sayer to seek funding from donors to pay for the medication for the remaining patients on the ward. Meanwhile, Leonard is starting to grow agitated at being unable to go out on his own and regain his freedom. As his anger grows, he begins to show symptoms that the medication is beginning to stop working. He has facial and body tics that begin to manifest and has difficulty controlling them. As these increase, the remaining patients on the catatonic ward are upset, fearing what they are seeing will be their fate, too. 

Watching this film is like seeing a child being born and realizing for the first time that what you are looking at is a real-life human being with thoughts and feelings. The doctors in the hospital don’t like to think about the catatonic patients as anything but empty shells because the thought of them having thoughts and feelings trapped in a non-responsive body is just too painful and unnerving. Dr. Peter Ingham (Max von Sydow) expresses it best when talking with Sayer about this mindset. Dr. Sayer doesn’t believe that, which drives his determination to break through this barrier and help the patients rather than just cater to their basic physical needs. Dr. Sayer is a bit like his patients, too, but his inability to live comes from fear rather than any physical ailment. His experiences with Leonard and the others will inspire him to set that fear aside and start to live for himself, too.

It is easy to overlook people who are catatonic or in a coma as being nothing more than an empty shell. This film challenges us to not take that limited view of things and realize that these are still people, people who lived their lives, who loved, were married, had childhoods, and friends. The thought of being trapped inside a body that refuses to let you actively participate in life the way most others can is a painful thought, one that really is unthinkable. It takes a special kind of person to be driven to help these people the way that Sayer is. 

This film was based on the real-life histories of those who had been victims of the encephalitis lethargica epidemic as written by Oliver Sacks, a British neurologist and writer. Sayer was inspired by the real-life Dr. Sacks who served as a neurologist at Beth Abraham Hospital’s chronic-care facility in the Bronx. His experiences there and the patients he treated became the basis for his 1973 book and the film seventeen years later. His work at the hospital inspired not only his own writings but the writings of many others who have since gathered his notes and other materials together to chronicle his work in the field of neurology. Shortly after his passing in 2015, work was begun on a biography as well as an archive of letters, photographs, and more chronicling the important work this man did through a lifetime of caring and research.

Awakenings, as mentioned above, is about more than just the treatment and regression of the patients under the care of Dr. Sayer. Sayer is an individual whose life seems to have only meaning within the walls of the hospital. He has no social life of his own. His own personal shyness prevents him from accepting an invitation from Nurse Eleanor Costello (Julie Kavner) to go out for coffee shortly after he first arrives at the hospital. In the end, he approaches her and makes the same suggestion, which she accepts. He has gone through his own kind of “awakening” and is taking the first step towards living a life outside of his own little bubble. More importantly, the rest of the staff, moved by their experience working with the catatonics during their brief period of wakefulness, treat their patients with more respect and dignity now that they are aware that they, their patients, are not just empty shells. This movie doesn’t end on a fairy tale where everyone has been cured; that would be untruthful and undermine the realities of the real world, but it still ends on a positive note and a message that is clear as day.

Awakenings was a critical darling when it was released in the winter of 1990, and it turned a solid profit. It also went on to be nominated for three Academy Awards. Surprisingly, Robin Williams was not among those nominated. That honor went to De Niro, whose portrayal of Leonard is so well done that it becomes painful to watch towards the end as his body begins to shut down again and is riddled with spasms and tics. 1990 was a tough Oscar race with Dances With Wolves, The Godfather, Part III, and Goodfellas dominating the major categories. Consequentially, Awakenings failed to win even one of the three awards it was nominated for. Still, it is a worthy film and should be remembered for what it accomplishes, not for what awards it didn’t win. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker

Best Actor: Robert De Niro

Best Adapted Screenplay: Steven Zaillian

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Release Date: December 12, 1990

Running Time: 121 Minutes

Rated PG-13

Starring: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, John Heard, Julie Kavner, Penelope Ann Miller, and Max von Sydow

Directed By: Penny Marshall