The movie ‘Awakenings’ starring Robin Williams, directed by Penny Marshall in the year 1990 is very successful in capturing the essence of living and the experiences that follow it. The film very succinctly delves into a man’s deepest fear – not being in control of themselves. It delivers the raw and unfiltered emotions of a person in this very state. The film’s setting and its cinematography is impeccable. The movie effectively puts across what goes through the characters’ minds. The overall colour palette is muted with warm colours being used to highlight hope and tenderness.
The main focus of the story – Leonard, is a middle-aged man who has been left immobilized for more than 3 decades due to a disease with no known cure. He resides in a chronic care hospital alongside others who share the same plight as him. Then comes along a research scholar Dr. Sayer, who in need for a job decides to take up the responsibilities of a doctor in the same hospital. The story follows Dr. Sayer’s efforts to restore the health of the patients, pulling them from their heartbreaking, vegetative state. The patients were inept at anything that involved movement of their body.
They were in a predicament where their thoughts, ideas and spirits cannot come to fruition due the shortcomings of their physical plane. Imagine being trapped in a coffin while still alive—at least you’d be aware of your surroundings. But for these patients every day was the same where they would get by experiencing nothing at all. However, one morning, the doctor notices that when a ball was thrown at a patient, she was able to catch it, almost like a reflex wherein according to Dr. Sayer she tried to “borrow the will of the ball”. This baffled the doctor who believed that this was a sliver of hope for them. He ceaselessly worked to figure out a way to make them sentient again for he knew the person beneath the paralysed form was still present.
His efforts pay off when he comes across a new drug namely L-Dopa which was used for parkinsonian patients to alleviate their symptoms. He convinces his employer to grant him the permission to test this drug on Leonard. After a gruelling few days and nights, nothing short of a miracle occurs, when Leonard finally wakes up and can sluggishly move his hands and his body. The man once thought lost could now consciously control his actions.
He could finally experience what it meant to be human. A human who loves, a human who thinks, and above all a human who lives. The hospital rejoices for this was a very prominent landmark in the treatment of patients with the same condition. Shortly after, this drug is administered to all the other afflicted people and they too regain their original vigour and will to live. Leonard’s recovery had a remarkable effect on the employees of the hospital. They were so moved that they were ready to donate their own money to cover the medical costs of the patients.
The film also explores the profound and intimate relationship that develops between Leonard and Dr. Sayer.
Dr. Sayer was a very cerebral man who could only love the intellectual idea behind humanity. He was not very adept at handling relationships. Leonard’s recovery was a transformative experience for Dr. Sayer. Leonard practically received a second chance at rewriting his life. He now knew what it meant to live a life that actually mattered.
Dr. Sayer and Leonard forge an unlikely friendship that seeks to highlight the importance and necessity of the bond between a doctor and a patient, which imparts a certain strength to the ailing. Dr. Sayer in the beginning of the movie has been portrayed as unable to perceive emotional cues. This is evident when he unknowingly ignores Nurse Eleanor’s romantic advances and when he is seen struggling to deliver a concise and simple speech to attract patrons.
Leonard helps Sayer perceive and understand himself whilst fighting with his own demons. After a few days of being on the drug Leonard begins exhibiting abnormal behaviour and uncontrolled feelings. He starts feeling a strong urge to be independent and to live without restrictions. This shows us how varied the human mind can be. The mind desires to feel and if it isn’t given the facilities to do so, it quite simply begins to torture you and eat you up from within.
However, the results from the drug were short-lived. The patients once again relapsed to their previous condition and were left at the mercy of their bodies. Many attempts were made to revive them again but to no avail. This was a hard-hitting event that felt like they moved back to where they had started from. But most of all this crushed Dr. Sayer’s morale. He felt like a part of him was gone for he lost his only friend. He began pondering about how fair it was to give someone life only to take it back again; to be God only to regress back to being the reaper.
This situation helped Sayer realise what actually mattered in a culmination of fleeting moments we call life. He finally started acknowledging his mind and did what he longed to.
At the end of the film, we see that Sayer musters up the courage and asks Nurse Eleanor out on a date. This is a very significant milestone for him as he finally allowed himself a chance to forge a meaningful association with another person and most importantly gave himself a chance at love. This scene is particularly heartwarming, reminding us of the value of emotional connections and personal growth.
By: Aparajitaa Sanyal
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