Some saw his career as capitalizing on those case studies. Though “Oliver Sacks: His Own Life” is a celebration in the style of many other “ American Masters” entries, Burns still allows room to acknowledge that not all response to Sacks’ work was as positive as the interview subjects’ various forms of praise. The wider attention that he garnered - including but not limited to the 1990 film adaptation of his book “Awakenings” - is painted as a result of an organic interest in Sacks’ style, rather than of someone desperate to will the public into sharing his passions.
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Even Sacks describes how that gradual movement into the literary world was a function of a series of happy accidents. Much like the scientists and writers and artists whose interviews make up a large bulk of the film characterize his work, the film doesn’t paint Sacks as an unquantifiable genius or the product of pure determination. Roughly following the chronological pathway from those initial stretches in academia through his field work that would bring him to a vast, global audience, “His Own Life” doesn’t necessarily set out to be inspiring. “HIs Own Life” features him reading from his own work and observations, but it blends that with his extemporaneous anecdotes and conversational vulnerability when outlining the darker periods of his childhood and early adult years. There’s a surprising, clear-headed ease in channeling his past misgivings - during the time when he was taking hours-long motorcycle sojourns through Southern California in between smashing state weightlifting records - that comes from having Sacks’ own voice recalling the days of struggle that predated his success. Quentin Tarantino's Favorite Movies: 35 Films the Director Wants You to See
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'Yellowjackets' Caps Off the Most Disturbing TV Season in Years - and One of the Best 'Ozark' Review: Season 4, Part 1 Questions If There's Enough Good Left to Bury the Bad (No Spoilers) As a way to supplement stories about the origins of some of Sacks’ most well-known works, Burns includes visuals of manuscripts in handwritten, typed, and water-stained forms. A refrain that comes through “HIs Own Life” is the way that those who knew him describe his overwhelming appetite for writing, even those thoughts that he intended solely for his own personal readership. One of the other built-in benefits of profiling Sacks is the wealth of written accounts he left during his life, not just in the published works that have become standard entry points into accessible understandings of the neurological field.
Beginning with an overview of Sacks’ early years spent adrift and following through to an unexpected second act as a bestselling writer, Ric Burns’ documentary offers a calm and measured look at Sacks’ legacy.
“ Oliver Sacks: His Own Life” uses conversations with Sacks himself as a kind of rudder, a personal guide through the many of the chapters of his own story. There’s a patience and an accessibility in his written work that, if mirrored in the approach of any kind of biography, offers a welcome kind of clarity. Oliver Sacks is the kind of subject for whom any portrait has an extremely high floor.