Oliver Sacks: His Own Life
Now Showing in our Virtual Cinema
(USA / Dir. by Ric Burns / 2019)
At age 81, the renowned neurologist and author Oliver Sacks was given an unexpected diagnosis. A rare form of cancer, thought to have been treated years earlier, had returned. Having only a few months left to live, Dr. Sacks sat down with Ric Burns and participated in a lengthy series of interviews. 5 days and 80 hours of filming captures for the screen remarkably candid and moving reflections on his career, but also long suppressed stories from his childhood and adulthood that had haunted and yet inspired the trajectory of his life.
From a life devoted to the observation and documentation of the human consciousness, Dr. Sacks brought the stories of his patients to his revered books (Awakenkings, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, A Leg to Stand On). His contributions to literature brought him fame, but only gradually did the scientific community begin to accept his special talents. Interviews from his friends and peers paint the portrait of the man they knew and loved, while the doctor turns his powerful insight on himself, providing an essential confessional and joyful and loving punctuation to his distinctive life.
1 hr 51 mins