Awakenings (1990)

A life-affirming movie, as our lecturer likes to call it, Awakenings certainly allowed me to see life in a different light through its central theme of perseverance and cherishing the present. Its realistic portrayal of a catatonic patient's struggle as regains his life, only to have it slowly and painfully taken away from him again, really left a deep impression on me.

This movie touches a lot on having an optimistic outlook on life, from the staff who were influenced by Dr Sayer's commitment to the patients, to Leonard's will of using himself as a sample for the doctors to learn more about his condition, and finally to every single character in the movie who did not give up on themselves as well as their loved ones even after their hopes were crushed by reality, but still chose to stay in the fight with determination and perseverance.

Besides, it also portrays an inclination of including positive psychology and human-centered therapy in dealing with patients. One of the instances was when Dr Sayer and Eleanor figured out multiple triggers for the catatonic patients to regain movement such as music, human touch, and consistent patterns. It was also shown when Leonard pleaded for the luxury to walk outside of hospital compound alone, as he put it "you woke a human, not a thing". Positive psychology emphasizes on the potential of every human being and using that to help them thrive in life (Positive Psychology UK), whether it is using positive experience such as music and emotional support, or developing a sense of social responsibility like what Dr Sayer did throughout the movie.

Leonard:

People have forgotten what life is all about.

They've forgotten what it is to be alive.

They need to be reminded.

They need to be reminded of what they have and what they can lose.

A particular scene in the movie struck me and sent chills down my spine. It was when Dr Sayer visited another expert in Parkisonism and asked the expert how was he so sure that the patients do not have any cognitive abilities during their catatonic state.

"Because the alternative is unthinkable".

To me this answer also reflected human behavior in other aspects of life. It is the "easy way out", similar to a state of denial or escapism when we have yet to understand something that is beyond our capabilities or comprehensibility. The dismissal of those patients' mental state also led to a form of dehumanization, where they were cast aside as "human furniture" instead of being treated like a normal human being. This is also reflected on Dr Kaufman (and the other staff) who was numbed by the seemingly untreatable patients and said something like this at the start of the movie:

Sayer: How will they get well?

Kaufman: They don't. They're chronic.

We call it the garden because all we do is feed and water them.

Fortunately, as the story progress all characters showed a certain degree of development. The staff, for instance, were moved by Leonard's awakening and voluntarily donated for a larger scale of L-Dopa administration. However, the most apparent development was still seen on both our protagonists, Dr Sayer and Leonard.

Dr Sayer turned from an anxious, reserved character who have no experience working with real-life patients, to a doctor dedicated to help his friend and to bring change to the medical field as well as the world. It was his sense of responsibility as a researcher which prompted him to dig deeper into the disease, but most importantly it was his courage to experiment that brought Leonard and the others back, albeit only for a short while. Towards the end of the movie, he was also able to step out of his comfort zone and confront his feelings towards Eleanor.

As for Leonard, we were introduced to this character halfway through the story, when he still displayed child-like behavior as well as interest before realizing that he has lost 30 years due to his disease. His experience reminded me of the 5 stages of death and dying. Starting with denial and continued to anger, he led a bunch of other patients in attempt to break free of their suffocating environment, but he finally accepted his condition and reconciled with Dr Sayer until he became catatonic once again.

All in all, this is a movie about finding hope in times of despair, and despite its realistic but heartbreaking ending, it teaches us to always live in the present as life is too short for regrets. Most importantly, however, is to never give up on yourself. Even though Dr Sayer was still trying to look for ways to "wake" his patients up after the initial awakening failed, and the hospital staffs continued to care for them with genuine warmth and kindness, it is in Leonard's strong will to live that we learned that living is something that most people take for granted as most of us never needed to go through what they went through, and since we are blessed enough to have been given a life, it would only be appropriate if we live it to the fullest.

References:
Positive Psychology UK. (2016). Retrieved from http://positivepsychology.org.uk/what-is-positive-psychology/

Cinema Paradiso (1988)

     A classic still loved by many, Cinema Paradiso depicts the early life of Salvatore Di Vita (Toto), a renowned Italian film director, and his relationships with several individuals whom he held close to heart. The most apparent theme that penetrates the movie is non-other than love, portrayed in several different types of relationships Toto has. These love are not merely one-dimensional and superficial, as they also encompass passion, self-sacrifice, trust and respect, as well as unconditional acceptance. 

Young Toto in the cinema

     The love Toto has for movies was shown from the very beginning, where he would constantly go to the cinema to watch Alfredo, his mentor, work in the projection booth. His love for movie grows along with his age, which partly prompted him to take over Alfredo’s job and leave for Rome. Besides passion, he also demonstrated exceptional learning skills when he was able to operate the film projector as a child, albeit only for a short while, by simply observing Alfredo. This shows the effectiveness of observational learning as mentioned in Albert Bandura's social learning theory (Ciccarelli & White, 2015), especially in terms of children's learning pattern and how behavior of adults might significantly affect their children.

     Moving on to the budding young love between Elena and Toto, these two are what is known as star-crossed lovers, two individuals whose are not meant to be from the moment they were caught by Elena's father. Watching them felt like travelling back in time when love is simple and innocent, and that is also the gist of their relationship according to Sternberg's triangular theory of love (Greenberg, Bruess, & Oswalt, 2014). 

     They share an infatuated love where passion becomes the main ingredient that fuels this relationship. However, it is also because of their lack of understanding towards each other, Toto and Elena lost all forms of contact after he came home from compulsory military service. Even though one may argue that Elena's father's disapproval is the main reason for their separation, the lack of closeness and attachment which may be building blocks towards a more stable relationship also plays a pivotal role in my personal opinion.

     Moving on to the love between Alfredo and Toto, it reflects a love similar to one between father and son. Alfredo was a father figure to Toto who lost his to war, not only did he taught Toto everything he knew about his job, he encouraged him to not give in to his past and to pursue his dreams instead. This love was also unconditional, as shown when he encouraged Toto to head to Rome even though he himself was torn by the separation.

      Alfredo never had a child of his own. Before Toto came budging into his life, he was a victim of learned helplessness. This was what he once told Toto when the latter asked why didn't he switch to a job with better working conditions:

"Because I'm an idiot. How many other guys in town know how to be a projectionist? None! Only a jerk like me could do it." 

     But then everything changed. Alfredo can be said to have overcame the stage of generativity vs stagnation in Erikson's psychosocial stages of development (Ciccarelli & White, 2015) as he taught Toto everything he need to know about being a projectionist, thus achieving generativity as he successfully passed this knowledge down and contributed to Toto's future success. The most valuable lesson he gave Toto, was to not dwell in the past and aim for the future instead. 

     Some may ask, what makes this movie so likeable (Besides having good cast, plot, music etc)? This links to one of the theories behind liking -- creating familiarity through the "Mere Exposure Effect" (Myers, 2014). Long story short, it states that the more you are exposed to something, the more you are going to like it. Needless to say, movies do that a lot, from repetitive theme songs to frequent name dropping. Cinema Paradiso did the same by playing with the feelings of nostalgia. It introduced us to Toto's life as a child as well as his living environment and those around him, from the priest who censored every single kissing scene he watched, the village idiot who claimed ownership over the city square, the well-dressed but rude man who spits at the cheering crowd on the cinema's ground floor, and a couple who found love over their mutual interest for movies.These people reappeared as elderly folks towards the end of the movie at Alfredo's funeral, and in that moment you just can't stop yourself from reminiscing the "old times" you went through with Toto, when everyone was still young and the cinema was still the only form of entertainment they have. So much, yet so little, has changed.

Adult Toto lamenting over his first love

     In the final scene of the movie, also known as the "famous kissing montage", it shows Toto sitting alone in the new cinema while a series of cut kissing scenes played out before him. Even though Alfredo never once contacted Toto for the past 30 years, his love was still the same. In that moment, something he said at the start of the movie crossed my mind (when Toto asked why didn't he place the censored kissing strips back), "Cause sometimes you can't find the right place any more". 

Well I think he finally did.

References:

Ciccarelli, S. K., & White, J. N. (2015). Psychology (4th ed.). England: Pearson Education Limited.

Greenberg, J. S., Bruess, C. E., & Oswalt, S. B. (2014). Exploring the Dimensions of Human Sexuality (5th ed.). United States: Sinauer Associates, Inc.

Myers, D. G. (2014). Social Psychology (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.