The plot of the drama “Awakenings” tells of a doctor and scientist, Malcolm Sayer, who obtains permission to use an experimental drug and “awakens” severely ill patients who have spent decades in a state of semi-coma, semi-trance.
The film is based on true events and on the memoir of the same name by the neurology professor Oliver Sacks. The leading roles are played by Robert De Niro and Robin Williams.
Nervous diseases in people we love, and especially in children, are a tragedy both for the patients and for those close to them.
The first patient to “awaken” is Leonard, who had been in a lethargic state for almost 30 years. This becomes a miracle and a joy, and a trial as well, for the patient, for his mother and for the doctor. There comes an awareness of the value of life, of the simple things an ordinary person enjoys: walking, dancing, eating, observing the world and loving. And this gives impetus to a rebirth, to the awakening of the doctor himself.
Leonard’s words to his doctor sound like a call to the heart of each of us: “People have forgotten what life is. They have forgotten what it is to be alive. They need to be reminded. They need to be reminded of what they have and what they can lose. I feel the joy of life, the wonder of life..”
An incredibly touching and truthful story that makes you empathize with the characters; it evokes the whole range of feelings, which the actors seem not to play but to live.
Watch and enjoy!
With love, Tatiana.
