Hacker Cinema
Awakenings
1990 · Film · 120 min
Directed by Penny Marshall
Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.
8 positive8 neutralfrom 16 commenters
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16 comments on Hacker News
"Awakenings is a 1990 American drama film directed by Penny Marshall. It is written by Steven Zaillian, who based his screenplay on Oliver Sacks's 1973 memoir Awakenings." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awakenings
I’m not necessarily disagreeing with your list, even though some of those are mediocre at best, but yeah I did mean per year, and limited to Hollywood (Parasite for instance not counting). And no, ok, I will also straight up disagree with the second Knives out Movie which I thought was absolute trash. A perfect example of poor storytelling and the form over substance of modern cinema.
But just taking say 1992 you have Last of the Mohicans, The Unforgiven, My Cousin Vinny, Malcolm X, Bad Lieutenant, Scent of a Woman, Reservoir Dogs, Dracula, Chaplin.
And then a bunch of fun schlomp like Arizona Dream, Basic Instinct, Sister Act, Army of Darkness, Home Alone 2, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Mighty Ducks, Wayne’s World.
These are all undoubtedly great movies.
And then another huge bunch of watchable stuff easily comparable to some of your mentions like Watcher or High Life.
And 1992 is not an outlier.
In 1993 you have Jurrasic Park, Groundhog Day, Whats Eating Gilbert Grape, Scindlers List, Meanace 2 Society, Alive, Dazed and Confused, Falling Down, In The Name of The Father, True Romance, Demolition Man, Carlitos Way, The Secret Garden, Philadelphia, A Perfect Workd, Cool Runnings, Short Cuts.
In 1991 Silence of The Lambs, Ternimator 2, JFK, Point Break, Thelma and Louise, Boyz in the Hood, The Doors, My Own Private Idaho, Barton Fink, The Fisher King, Naked Lunch.
In 1990 Goodfellas, Hunt for Red October, Total Recall, Edward Scissorhands, Home Alone, Godfather 3, Dances with Wolves, Tremors, Back to the Future 3, Awakenings, The Witches, Wild at Heart, Jacobs Ladder, Nikita, Slacker, Millers Crossing.
And the quality difference is massive too, not just somewhat better. Like just Millers Crossing is miles better than anything that has been made in the last 5 years, and I’m picking at random.
In 1994 Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, The Lion King, Speed, Ace Ventura, Dumb and Dumber, Stargate, Natural Born Killers, The Crow, Clercs, Maverick, Ed Wood, In the Mouth of Madness, Interview With The Vampire.
I could go on.
And this is not even talking about how the 80s is a better decade for cinema, or how the 70s is the peak of the power of the author with far more experimental, artistic, and substantial productions.
Has quality declined? Yes. Massively. Humongously. Stupendously.
Awakenings (1990) was an interesting movie and I believe based on a true story. Sounds like the Ambien effects some folks are mentioning. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099077
Thanks so much for sharing. Refreshes my own experience. I was so clear what I wanted to do with my life - so many goals and aspirations. Then I remember holding my first-borne in one hand. Less than an hour old she peered up to me almost inquisitively as if to say "I hope you got this?" At that moment I realized what my life was about. Can barely remember those goals and aspirations now. As they say in Spanish, my first borne now has 42 years. Brought 6 kids and 5 grandchildren into this world.
As I age I am reminded by the same process you talk about but in reverse now. Watch the Robin Williams movie "Awakenings" [1]. Really portrays it. We come into this world absolutely unable to do much of anything. We fade in. Then ... trust me ... we fade out. But in between, if we're really lucky we get to shine.
I wonder if a neural network will ever do that?
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099077/
Awakenings with Robin Williams (in a serious role) is another exploration of that issue. Incredibly touching movie.
For a very similar but different up and down story arc that both makes one appreciate the value of one's own mental faculties, and stirs compassion for those with diminished abilities, I highly recommend the movie "Awakenings." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awakenings De Niro and Robin Williams, based on an Oliver Sacks book, which I haven't read but it probably great.
I mean, didn't they make a movie called Awakenings about the true story of a bunch of people emerging from long-term vegetative states?
Google "L-dopa"
Conscious coma patients is the premise of the movie Awakenings from 1990:
https://youtu.be/7exeVt7CaE4
I thought it was established back then that this was a real phenomenon.
Another interesting one:
Awakenings (a decent movie starring Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099077/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awakenings
If it was Oliver Sacks' Awakenings then it is non-fiction, though it did get turned into a movie.
Different drug and underlying affliction, but the film "Awakenings" is worth watching if this story piques your interest. It's a true (though highly dramatized) story. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099077/
This reminded me of the treatment of Encephalitis lethargica [i] and the temporary effect of L-dopa (as made famous in the movie Awakenings).
[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalitis_lethargica
Also, if you want to learn more about Oliver Sacks outside of his weightlifting, check out Awakenings (his book, later made into a movie starring Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams, with the latter playing Sacks) or The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. He wrote a number of other books that are also interesting - exploring the way the brain works by understanding when it fails - but those two are probably the best known.
Yup, basically the movie plot of Awakenings. Also, a family member of mine, whom was not catatonic, tried it for post-stroke fatigue/pain/neuropathy/brain fog to get away from gabapentin&pregabalin.
Not to mention, from my own perspective as a therapy goer, a lot of personal and mental problems stem from a certain lack of social skills or immaturity, as well as working through trauma or biological mental illness (I have all three). Yes, you might come back from therapy a lot more assertive and "mean" than you were before, but its important to note you were maddeningly depressive and a zombie-like 'yes man/woman' before.
This reminds me a bit of the movie Awakenings, where one of the patients who came out of his coma was upsetting his mother. His mother was so used to him being this passive and lovable manchild that she couldn't handle him when he became assertive, spoke back to her, and wanted to spend time with young ladies and not with his mother. She never saw him go through a proper teenage rebellion stage and he wanted to live life immediately and really had no time for mother anymore because he just wanted to pursue his crush. To his mother, the therapy was a failure because she was no longer happy with him.
I also think there's an element of becoming jaded as one gets older, generally. The more experience you have with people, life, etc the more you realize we really are not good creatures and a lot of the wonderful optimism we've been taught be in a spiritual, social, or familial environment are often wrong, if not entirely false and people are just simply predictable animals fighting for resources. Therapy and other methods of self-discovery often lead to these self-discoveries and can really lead to a certain level of 'depressive realism.'
I read somewhere the happiest people are the ultra-religious and cult members. Everything is explained and everything is simple to them as a singular and unquestionable authority gives them all the answers. Therapy in the western tradition is pretty much the opposite of that. I guess you have to ask yourself if you want to be delusional and happy or realistic and perhaps have a good chance at being content with life and with occasional happiness and accepting of negative situations when they come.
I suspect most people's idea of a mentally healthy person don't fit in with what its actually like to be mentally healthy. Its not all smiles and laughter. Its also toughness and resiliency and the ability to say 'no' to you. If your friend came back from therapy like this, you'd think it was a failure, but I suspect he feels much more validated in life and much more autonomous.
Also encephalitis lethargica, the treatment of which even got turned into a movie (and book and play): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awakenings.
(Spoiler: The patients, unfortunately, developed a tolerance for the treatment within a few months.)