An exploration of the life and work of the legendary neurologist and storyteller, as he shares intimate details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact. Sacks was a fearless explorer of unknown mental worlds who helped redefine our understanding of the brain and mind, the diversity of human experience, and our shared humanity.
Oliver Sacks: una vida, Oliver Sacks – Sein Leben, 올리버 색스: 그의 생애
USA
Telluride Film Festival
UK15
NetherlandsAL
Ireland15
NetherlandsAL
UK15
Germany
Germany
Ireland
Netherlands
UK
USA
"Much of my life has been spent imagining what it's like to be another sentient being"
After a terminal diagnosis, neurologist Oliver Sacks reflects on his work and life.
In many ways this is a standard documentary biopic. But the subject is fascinating enough to make for a compelling watch. As a gay man denounced by his mother and who society wouldn't allow to be openly himself, Sacks carried a deep wound from a fairly early age. It's interesting to see how his reaction to the adversity life presented him with on a few fronts generated a deep empathy within him. As the film puts it, it caused "deep empathy as a reaction to great suffering" within him.
The documentary…
There is a quote in this documentary that 70% of neurologists got their first taste of the science through Oliver Sacks. I’m honestly surprised that number isn’t higher.
The empathetic true stories told by Sacks in his books have always fascinated me. What is great about this documentary is that filmmaker Ric Burns brings that same empathy and heart to his subject, whose life was much more complex and troubled than I was expecting.
But I guess that is true of all of us, isn’t it? Although on the surface, our stories may not hold a candle to the ‘Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat,’ we all have complexities woven around a lifetime of tragedies and trauma. Sacks…
You didn't know Oliver Sacks was gay? NO ONE DID.
Vegan alert:
Oliver's mom brought home a fetus for Oliver to dissect at age 10 or 11
An amazing story about an amazing person with amazing archival footage surrounded by some not-so-amazing filmmaking.
Oliver Sacks was one of those people who seemed beyond normal capabilities. We may call them geniuses, hyper-intelligent, or, simply, very good at their jobs. But Sacks was very, very good at two jobs: writing and neurology. And that combo made him, weirdly, a star.
As the title makes clear, this is his own story, which is as strange and compelling as many of his case studies. Who knew that beside his incredible talents, he achieved a California State Record in 1961 for squatting? That’s a bodybuilding term for a particular weightlifting manoeuvre, and Sacks won his record by doing it with two hundred and seventy-two kilos on his back. I don’t know about you, but when I read Oliver…
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life follows Sacks final days before the publication of his memoir as he reflects on his life and his myriad accomplishments. Oliver Sacks was a famous neurologist and famous author who studied patients who suffered from abnormal problems and focused on treating them humanely. It was his philosophy to understand his patients rather than just treating their so-called disorders. Among his many books, perhaps his most famous one was Awakenings which was adapted for the big screen as a movie starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams. In his books, he showed the human side of his patients by trying to show them compassion and tapping into what they are capable of so they could reach their potential. I found this documentary to be comprehensive, engaging, insightful, moving and entertaining. It is a poignant profile of a man who overcame his troubled past and succeeded in touching many people’s hearts.
A profoundly lovely documentary. It’s hard to imagine anyone watching and not being moved by the scope of Sacks’ work, his self-effacing humour and willingness to be vulnerable. Beyond his obvious genius, when he talks to camera he comes across as somewhat of a loveable dork; like someone who would have been an empathetic, funny, eccentric, endlessly curious friend. As soon as it was over, I missed him.
The film is made extra poignant by the combination of footage from the last months of Sacks’ life and talking heads that were filmed after his death - it’s as if we’re seeing the transition from ‘actual living person’ to ‘important figure from history’ happen in real time.
„When people die they cannot be replaced. They leave holes that cannot be filled. It is the fate - the genetic and neural fate - of every human being to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, to die his own death.
(...)
Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal on this beautiful planet, and this in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.”
It doesn't push any boundaries of the documentary form, but the effect of that is only minorly irritating, thanks to an abundance of primary source footage—most of it Sacks' own. Of course, he famously has a zillion jaw-dropping stories, and it's his recounting these that keeps one hooked.
Sacks meticulously filmed and recorded his sleeping-sickness patients' development throughout their treatment, and this footage alone makes this an invaluable documentary.
You will probably weep. For his patients, for a medical treatment system that sidelines personal histories, and for such a profoundly empathetic genius forced to suppress his sexual identity for most of his life. But the overwhelming joy of profound successes, or even glances at them, are there too.
I got…
Such a beautiful mind. I burst into tears at the end... 😭 I wish I had known him in this life (aside from reading his books), but if there is a possibility of coming across his mind in any spiritual sense, I'll seek him out in the afterlife.
I feel like there's two paths that a film about someone can go; the first is to try to tell the full story of their life to the best that two hours or so could accommodate. The second is to pick a defining point of it and focusing on that. The danger in doing neither is that it doesn't go deep enough into the bulk of the focus, but it spends enough time on that for it to be rather unsatisfying.
That's where I feel like this movie is; there's some strong moments and interesting segments, but it felt like it didn't stick with either his personal life consistently enough or his career deep enough. I do think it started…
