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zingy
College Boy Z
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 8:40 pm
Posts: 36662
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 Awakenings Awakenings Quote: Awakenings is a 1990 American drama film based on Oliver Sacks's 1973 memoir Awakenings. It tells the true story of British neurologist Oliver Sacks, fictionalized as American Malcolm Sayer and portrayed 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 1917–28 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 was produced by Walter Parkes and Lawrence Lasker, who first encountered Sacks's book as undergraduates at Yale University and optioned it a few years later. Awakenings stars Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, John Heard, Ruth Nelson, Julie Kavner, Penelope Ann Miller, and Max Von Sydow. The film features a non-speaking cameo from jazz legend Dexter Gordon (who died before the film's release) who appears as a patient and then-unknowns Bradley Whitford, Peter Stormare, Vin Diesel, and Vincent Pastore play a doctor, neurochemist, hospital orderly and a psych-ward patient, respectively.
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| Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:32 pm |
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Libs
Sbil
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 3:38 pm
Posts: 48626
Location: Arlington, VA
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Amazing film.
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| Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:33 pm |
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zennier
htm
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:38 pm
Posts: 10316
Location: berkeley
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Ditto what Libs said.
One of the best movies ever. Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro are absolutely phenomenal.
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| Tue Feb 28, 2006 10:58 am |
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Anonymous
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3. Awakenings (1990)
2. The Crying Game (1992)
1. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Of all the movies in my top 15, Awakenings gets the biggest wtf? reaction.
I love this film. The dance scene between Leonard and Paula devastates me every time I watch it.
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| Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:05 pm |
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zennier
htm
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:38 pm
Posts: 10316
Location: berkeley
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Mein München wrote: 3. Awakenings (1990)
2. The Crying Game (1992)
1. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Of all the movies in my top 15, Awakenings gets the biggest wtf? reaction.
I love this film. The dance scene between Leonard and Paula devastates me every time I watch it. wtf is right.
Our tastes are yet again disturbingly alike. (!)
Though I wouldn't rate Clockwork THAT high 
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| Tue Feb 28, 2006 6:57 pm |
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Alex Y.
Top Poster
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 4:47 pm
Posts: 5705
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my favorite Oscar nominee of that year (over Goodfellas, Ghost, The Godfather III, Dances with Wolves)
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| Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:11 pm |
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Thegun
On autopilot for the summer
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 10:14 pm
Posts: 21634
Location: Walking around somewhere
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Great movie, one of my favorites, I would have rathered this won over Dances with Wolves any time.
_________________ Chippy wrote: As always, fuck Thegun. Chippy wrote: I want to live vicariously through you, Thegun!
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| Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:49 pm |
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Amer
Indiana Jones IV
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:35 pm
Posts: 1912
Location: Texas
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Great Film. Watched it in English class, and I loved it. Deniro does an amazing job same with Williams. A
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The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.....
Last edited by Amer on Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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| Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:34 am |
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Dr. Lecter
You must have big rats
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:28 pm
Posts: 92093
Location: Bonn, Germany
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Amer wrote: Great Film. Watched it in English class, and I loved it. Deniro does an amazing job same with Hoffman. A Hoffman? _________________The greatest thing on earth is to love and to be loved in return!
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| Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:47 am |
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Thegun
On autopilot for the summer
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 10:14 pm
Posts: 21634
Location: Walking around somewhere
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I think you mean Robin Williams.
_________________Chippy wrote: As always, fuck Thegun. Chippy wrote: I want to live vicariously through you, Thegun!
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| Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:51 pm |
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Amer
Indiana Jones IV
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:35 pm
Posts: 1912
Location: Texas
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Yeah I mean Williams. My bad, I have no idea what I was thinking.
_________________
The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.....
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| Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:40 pm |
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Johnny Dollar
The Lubitsch Touch
Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2005 5:48 pm
Posts: 11019
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Re: Awakenings This was like getting punched repeatedly in the balls.
The ending is written in stone from the start, so being forced to sit through this is one of the most depressing, grueling experiences of my life. How anyone gets anything from this movie except a weakened will to live is beyond my limited intelligence.
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k
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| Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:47 pm |
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snack
Extraordinary
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 9:18 pm
Posts: 12159
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Re: Awakenings yoshue wrote: This was like getting punched repeatedly in the balls.
The ending is written in stone from the start, so being forced to sit through this is one of the most depressing, grueling experiences of my life. How anyone gets anything from this movie except a weakened will to live is beyond my limited intelligence. haha! but you liked HSM3! pwnd!
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| Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:53 pm |
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Dr. Lecter
You must have big rats
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:28 pm
Posts: 92093
Location: Bonn, Germany
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Re: Awakenings A-
Predictable ending? Yes. Emotionally manipulative as hell? Indeed.
But damn if it still doesn't work. Both, Robin Williams and Robert De Niro are delivering some of the best performances of their respective careers and at least in De Niro's case it does say a whole lot. Their interaction is terrific and after Dead Poets Society it was a confirmation of Williams handling dramatic roles well (later to be once again confirmed by The Fisher Kings). But once De Niro's character gets out of his catatonia it becomes all De Niro's film.
While the movie can be very depressing and sad at times, I think its message is ultimately one of hope. Sure, at the end De Niro is back to his catatonic state. But it shows that progress is possible. The science keeps taking leaps forward and at first it is just minor successes, but successes nonetheless. It also shows that even if the whole awakening was just for a brief period of time, it was still worth it. It was better to have lived for a little than not at all. On the other hand, it also shows how scientists and doctors should not be too euphoric by their discoveries and that advances usually happen in small steps rather than giant leaps. All good scientists must have a greatly developed frustration tolerance.
This is all conveyed by this film as well as one of the more touching love stories I have seen to date. As I said, with a plot like this not much could have gone wrong. It has "emotional" and "hard-hitting" written all over it and I'd argue that the direction by Penny Marshall is rather bland at times. But the simple raw emotional power and the superb acting by the two male leads just knock it out of the ballpark.
_________________The greatest thing on earth is to love and to be loved in return!
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| Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:13 am |
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Caius
A very honest-hearted fellow
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 8:02 pm
Posts: 4767
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Re: Awakenings I think this is one of his most underrated films.
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| Mon Aug 11, 2014 11:32 pm |
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thompsoncory
Rachel McAdams Fan
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:13 am
Posts: 14544
Location: LA / NYC
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Re: Awakenings I love this movie. It's incredibly heartbreaking though.
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