Oliver Sacks: His Own Life

Ric Burns' film relying on 60 hours of interviews with Dr. Sacks in his last months of life results in a genuine, vibrant portrait of Oliver Sacks and his large family of patients, friends, relatives, and medical colleagues. It is a remarkably honest memoir. Dr. Sacks' does not hide his own struggles in life, true to his statement that "we are all patients." He is also very open about his own depression, drug addiction, and sexual suppression as an stifled homosexual man which is shown in parallel to his infinite capability to care for others, to uplift others despite his own immense struggles. I love how the movie features raw interview shots with Dr. Sacks, interviews of people who knew and loved him (including Robert Krulwich, Dr. Atul Gawande, and Dr. Temple Grandin) as well as interactions with his patients, which are both solemn and life-instilling. Though there is a lot of heavy material, there is also a humorous wonderful feel to the movie, indicative of Dr. Sacks' personality. In the same way that people who visited him before his death felt that he had cheered them up and inspired them, the viewers feel uplifted by his love of life and humanity rather than overwhelmed by grief at his terminal sickness. I think Ric Burns clearly earned the trust of Dr. Sacks and Billy Hayes and the whole Sacks family, which shows his talent as a film director. It's a very well done movie and though it focuses on Oliver Sacks, one gets to also learn some neuro- science and hear about the internal lives of other famous people who interacted with Sacks.

This was fimed during the last few months of the life of Oliver Sachs, but also includes photographs and footage from his earlier years and his working life as a neurologist and scientist. It is not sensationalised but still manages to show the extremes that he lived through. I felt the sadness of his family life in Britain during World War II and beyond. He went to the USA when he was 27, and although he struggled with drug addiction he was also able to make a medical career for himself. We learn about some of his work with patients who would never have been seen by people outside of the mental hospital where they had spent many years. The medical establishment took many years to accept his ideas and his writings. We also observe his compassion towards his patients, and his bravery in being the vanguard in the understanding of the human brain.

This was fimed during the last few months of the life of Oliver Sachs, but also includes photographs and footage from his earlier years and his working life as a neurologist and scientist. It is not sensationalised but still manages to show the extremes that he lived through. I felt the sadness of his family life in Britain during World War II and beyond. He went to the USA when he was 27, and although he struggled with drug addiction he was also able to make a medical career for himself. We learn about some of his work with patients who would never have been seen by people outside of the mental hospital where they had spent many years. The medical establishment took many years to accept his ideas and his writings. We also observe his compassion towards his patients, and his bravery in being the vanguard in the understanding of the human brain.

Ric Burns' film relying on 60 hours of interviews with Dr. Sacks in his last months of life results in a genuine, vibrant portrait of Oliver Sacks and his large family of patients, friends, relatives, and medical colleagues. It is a remarkably honest memoir. Dr. Sacks' does not hide his own struggles in life, true to his statement that "we are all patients." He is also very open about his own depression, drug addiction, and sexual suppression as an stifled homosexual man which is shown in parallel to his infinite capability to care for others, to uplift others despite his own immense struggles. I love how the movie features raw interview shots with Dr. Sacks, interviews of people who knew and loved him (including Robert Krulwich, Dr. Atul Gawande, and Dr. Temple Grandin) as well as interactions with his patients, which are both solemn and life-instilling. Though there is a lot of heavy material, there is also a humorous wonderful feel to the movie, indicative of Dr. Sacks' personality. In the same way that people who visited him before his death felt that he had cheered them up and inspired them, the viewers feel uplifted by his love of life and humanity rather than overwhelmed by grief at his terminal sickness. I think Ric Burns clearly earned the trust of Dr. Sacks and Billy Hayes and the whole Sacks family, which shows his talent as a film director. It's a very well done movie and though it focuses on Oliver Sacks, one gets to also learn some neuro- science and hear about the internal lives of other famous people who interacted with Sacks.