Oliver Sacks wrote the novel that was produced into a movie in 1990

it is very good but sad,

the patients suffered brain fever -post encephalitis.


from the www.imbd.com
movie base -
Trivia for
Awakenings (1990)
Based on a nonfiction book by Oliver Sacks, with the character of Sayer based closely on Sacks himself.

Prior to filming, the actors portraying patients studied films of Dr. Oliver Sacks's actual post-encephalitis patients, and Robert De Niro and Robin Williams spent time with Sacks in the hospital observing him and his patients.


For the movie Robert De Niro filmed a scene with "Lillian T.", the only surviving patient from Oliver Sacks' book, "Awakenings". She was also said to have been the most outspoken patient in the 1973 documentary about the patients, also called "Awakenings".


When filming the scene where Dr. Sayer and the security guards attempt to restrain Leonard, Robin Williams accidentally hit Robert De Niro in the face with his elbow, breaking De Niro's nose. De Niro later commented that his nose had been broken before, in the opposite direction, and this injury actually straightened it back out.