Awakenings

Awakenings is a 1990 American biographical drama film written by Steven Zaillian, directed by Penny Marshall, and starring Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson, John Heard, Penelope Ann Miller, Peter Stormare, Mary Alice, and Max von Sydow. It is based on Oliver Sacks's 1973 nonfiction memoir, Awakenings. The film tells the story of the fictional neurologist Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Williams), whose character is based on Sacks. In 1969, Sayer discovers the beneficial effects of the drug L-DOPA and administers the drug to catatonic patients who survived the 1919–1930 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica. The patients—among them the focal character Leonard Lowe (De Niro)—are awakened after decades and must therefore try to acclimate to life in a new and unfamiliar time. The film is produced by Walter Parkes and Lawrence Lasker, who first encountered Sacks's book as undergraduates at Yale University. Released on December 21, 1990 by Columbia Pictures, Awakenings was a critical and commercial success, earning $108.7 million on a $29 million budget. It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (De Niro), and Best Adapted Screenplay.