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by Mike Reynolds
This article was originally published in The Maine Campus on 2/26/97
When the Academy Award nominations were announced at 4 am Pacific Time on Februrary 11th, the biggest story was that neither Madonna nor Courtney Love were nominated for Best Actress. The other story that seemed to be covered endlessly was the amount of awards “The English Patient” had been nominated for, yet it only began showing relatively recently in Bangor, probably as a result of the numerous nominations. There were many stories that seemed unworthy of mention because their category was not “popular”
The Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has over 20 separate catagories to recognize everything from Cinematography to Makeup. Many of the movies nominated are films popular culture hasn’t even heard of.
The Academy Awards are the biggest event in Hollywood. People worry about “who will show up in what dress by what designer and did it cost several thousand dollars?” The members of the academy all are respected in the motion picture field, their peers are the people nominated.
The Academy Awards are also, to a lesser extent, a showcase for independent filmakers, foreign films and other non-mainstream films. While film festivals such as Sundance may showcase the cutting edge ideas of young filmakers, The Oscar Awards give these independent filmakers a world wide audience to hear if their low budget works are worthy of the recognition that an Oscar may bring.
One category that illustrates this is Best Documentary - Short Subject. This year, five films are nominated, one of them Breathing Lessons: The life and times of Mark O’Brien, was directed by Jessica Yu.
“It is one of the best recognitions to be nominated,” said Yu, in a phone interview, when asked about her nomination.
Breathing Lessons is a half hour documentary of the life of Mark O’Brien, a journalist for Pacific News Service and poet who now lives in Berkeley, CA. O’Brien writings are works that are worthy of attention by themselves. But the source of O’Brien’s work take on a story of it’s own.
Mark O’Brien is a 47 year old writer who, since the age of six, has had to use an iron lung to breathe, as a result of childhood polio. He is one of an estimated 120 people in the world who is dependent on such a device. O’Brien’s life, experiences and poetry are at the heart of Breathing Lessons.
Answering the phone, O’Brien’s own voice sounds like a answering machine, one can hear the breathing over his voice which is over a speakerphone. When asked his reaction about the Oscar nomination, O’Brien stated, “I did not think we were even eligible, I was very suprised.”
The idea of a film came to light when Yu, had just covered a film festival for Pacific News. “The editor told me I had to meet this reporter, I was hesitant because it seemed like a heavy, serious story.” Jessica continues, “Yet when I first talked to Mark, I knew I could do this.” Yu’s described her previous films as “funny and kind of off beat.”
The film does live up to those adjectives. O’Brien’s own writing is described as brutally honest, funny and from a refreshing point of view. Some of his stories, such as one that he wrote about seeing a sexual surrogate, which he candidly descibes in one of his stories. “I guess it’s an occupational hazard.” O’Brien joked when asked about his frank style of writing.
The film received much of it’s budget from grants Yu wrote. Additional money was provided by Pacific News. “A great deal of the money was pocket money” Yu stated. The film took almost a year to complete and was premiered in December 1995.
When asked what was the most anticipated moment was, Yu immediately responded “The two days after I sent it to Mark to see it. I was walking on eggshells hoping he liked it.”
The film is a honest potrayal of O’Briens life. The film opens with his poem “Breathing”.
The loss of a younger sister to pneumonia gives way to another one of his poems, with the line I was the one who was supposed to die , making it one of the most memorable lines of the film.
O’Brien did spend two years in a nursing home, years he frequently refers to as horrific and terrifying. He was tutored at home as a child, excluded from the public school system. As it would turn out, his way out of the life he deplored was by attending college in Berkeley, CA.
The film is a funny and emotionally moving tale. This is not a story about a hopeless person with a disability, it rather serves as a document of how one person’s life he has choosen to lead, despite various factors that have made it like it is.
The film has received numerous awards already, with awards and selections from such acclaimed film festivals and associations such as the International Documentary Association, the South by Southwest film festival and The Sundance Film Festival.
Because of problems associated with his disabilitiy, O’Brien is only able to get in his wheelchair twice a month, Yu went to the numerous screenings all over the continent and brought a book which viewers could write messages to him. She gave the completed book to O’Brien last Christmas.
O’Brien will be watching the Awards show at home, he probably will have a party with his friends. Yu will be at the awards having a good time at the ceremonies.
O’Brien’s is currently working on an autobiography to be published in the fall. The film is also slated to be shown on the cable network, Cinemax, tentatively scheduled for May 22nd, as part of their “Reel Life” series.
“I don’t care if it is sandwiched between Police Academy 1 and 2, as long as it is on,” Yu commented.
