Critical Review

Dr. George Miller's 1992 film Lorenzo's Oil was based on the heartbreaking true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone and their son Lorenzo. The Odones (played by Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon respectively) discover behavioural changes in their bright young five year-old, Lorenzo (played by Zack O'Malley Greenburg). The normally placid boy begins having raving attacks and tantrums, went through collapsing spells and soon lost his hearing. After extensive medical testing, Lorenzo is diagnosed with the rare nerve disease adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a debilitating condition that strikes only little boys and is given no more than two years to live (Ebert, 1993 www.Suntimes.com).
The Odones, devastated by this sobering news, are told to 'be patient' by doctors and watch their son sink further into the debilitating illness. Instead, they take matters into their own hands and start their own investigation of the disease (Brenner, 1992 www.allmovie.com). From here, the Odones dedicate themselves completely to finding a cure for ALD. Lorenzo's Oil illustrates the Odones exhausting 32 month ordeal to save their son's life. Unwilling to accept this diagnosis the pair go about the daunting task of teaching themselves human biology, and throw themselves headfirst into medical journals and text books, in the hope of discovering a cure for their beloved son.
In a particularly moving scene shot in a Pennsylvania library, Augusto Odone is seen to sit down with a very thick, hard-backed book and open the front cover. The camera shows the first page sporting in block letters "The Central Nervous System". This scene, and the enomity of the building itself is representative of the struggle laying ahead of the Odones, and the sheer volume of information to be learned.
Lorenzo's incurable brain condition, Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) causes the loss of the fatty covering (myelin sheath) on nerve fibers within the brain and progressive degeneration of the adrenal gland. Its basis is genetic. Very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) are normally found in the blood plasma and the tissues of the body. In ALD the enzyme necessary to degrade VLCFAs is missing. These fatty acids accumulate in the brain (cerebral white matter) and in the adrenal glands. By an unknown mechanism this causes the loss of myelin.(Frieden, Elliott 1999 www.teachwithmovies.org) The basis the Odones quest was to discover a way to break down long chain fatty acids within their son, allowing his muscles to maintain their protective myelin sheath. The conclusive result was the discovery of this oleic acid (Lorenzo's Oil) that stopped the degenerative process, thus saving Lorenzo.
Miller's film is particularly heartrending and strikes a very sensitive nerve with its audience. The misfortune and pain of young is an upsetting thing to witness in any event, but in a filmic medium the emotion is heightened by use of diegesic and non-diegesic material. There is a particularly unsettling scene at the beginning of the film before Lorenzo's condition is diagnosed. He is just starting to lose co-ordination due the ALD and is left a bloodied mess after falling off his bicycle. In a similar vein later in the film, Lorenzo loses the ability swallow and begins to choke on his own saliva after a coughing fit.
Nolte's poorly executed Italian accent within Lorenzo's Oil has been widely criticised by reviewers as 'distracting' and 'badly done' (Ebert, 1993 www.Suntimes.com). However, I found this to be, in the larger scale of things, an unimportant issue; it failed to stand out as the film progressed. Watching Augusto Odone, spending hours upon hours pouring over medical text books without rest, day after day, is sleep-inducing. His unswerving devotion to Lorenzo amazing. Nolte's performance may have staggered a little, but only in the shadow of Sarandon's dependable genius. Michaela is convinced that Lorenzo is alive and alert inside the shell of his body. Her mad convictions that her son will soon get better, lead to the hiring and firing of numerous nurses that do not share her optimism (Ebert, 1993 www.Suntimes.com). One was overheard to say of Lorenzo: "The lights are out and there's nobody home" another made the mistake of suggesting a hospice - both were fired (Willis, 1992 www.Christiananswers.net).
Lorenzo's Oil is a tribute to the all-conquering love between a man and woman. The strength of Michaela and Augusto's marriage saw them through this, the hardest of times. This film is about courage, nobility of spirit and sacrifice (Murray, 1994). They gave their son around the clock care, and subsequently, gave him life. This film makes you happy to be alive. There is a lot of Miller himself in this production - being a doctor I can imagine that he may have seen many cases such as Lorenzo's end in death. At times, the dialogue is corny, overly sentimental and has strong religious undertones. It is not superbly made, but it tells the story effectively.

Critical Uptake

At the time of release, 1992 in U.S and 1993 in Australia, there didn't seem to be much anticipation of its arrival in cinemas. Examining the American Box Office figures comparitively with other films, it struggled to keep up with others released at the same time ie Scent of a Woman which grossed $63.895m (USA). Despite this, critics have generally loved Lorenzo's Oil (although many seemed too concerned with actor's performances rather than assess the whole of the film). Scott Murray said of this film in Australian Cinema: "This is the best work done by an Australian in the U.S in recent times." (1994). Other comments include this, by Brian Koller for epinions.com: "A harrowing and wrenching film that yet manages a happy ending, Lorenzo's Oil will never be popular for dates, kids, or parties. Yet the film has undeniable inspirational power, and for that reason it has had a shelf life beyond that of most Hollywood productions." (2002)

Lorenzo's Oil was not a blockbuster hit and was never meant to be. There was little hype or publicity about the film prior to its release, so as not to tarnish the true intentions of Miller in making it. Its arrival in Australia made no waves and did not last long in the cinema.

Film Production

Production details for Lorenzo's Oil are suspiciously minimal. The ever-helpful Imdb.com had little more than filming locations and company credits to deal with.

This film was completed and released in 1992 U.S (1993 Aust and the rest of the world). It was distributed by the large production company, Universal Pictures U.S - having also distributed another Miller film, Babe in 1995. As there are no George Miller interviews to be found (in English at least) the actual writing of the story and division of tasks amongst the crew cannot be exposed.
Lorenzo's Oil was shot largely in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Other scenes were filmed in the Comoro Islands, and a small part was filmed inside the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This film is largely an American film - see Position of Australian Film and Value.

Previous Works

Lorenzo's Oil was something of a milestone for director, George Miller. The Queensland-born doctor and film-maker has put his name to an abundance of previous and preceeding movies since Lorenzo's Oil. The most famous of his works would have to be the Mad Max trilogy. Mad Max, 1979 was the second film directed by Miller, and undoubtedly put him on the map in the world of movie-making. Mad Max was followed by Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, 1981, and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome ,1985. Miller wrote, produced and directed all three Mad Max films with the exception of the first, which he co-wrote with James McCausland.

Amongst Miller's major title are The Twilight Zone, the Movie 1983 (directed). The Witches of Eastwick 1987 (directed). The Year My Voice Broke 1987, (produced). Dead Calm, 1989 (produced). Babe 1995 (wrote and produced). Babe:Pig in the City 1998 (wrote, produced and directed).
Miller also tried his hand in the television industry for the most part of the eighties. He produced a number of television series and mini- series from 1983 - "The Dismissal" to 1989 - "Bangkok Hilton".
What is most different about Miller's work on Lorenzo's Oil is its classification as an American film. After years of working for the most part with Australian actors (Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman are still claimed as Australia's depsite their Hollywood success), Miller's production of this film (and indeed The Witches of Eastwick)took a step in a different direction. The cast of Lorenzo's Oil is striclty American, it was filmed in the States and one can only speculate that it was funded using American dollars. Despite this, the film remains on his list of credits and was a filmic milestone for Miller personally.
It is also interesting to note that Susan Sarandon was used for The Witches of Eastwick as well as Lorenzo's Oil. It not uncommon for directors to form patterns in their choice of cast - ie Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton.

Position of Australian Film and Value

What is perhaps most important to study in this arena is the placement of this film in the Australian Industry. We must question what makes a film Australian? For some it is the nationality of the actors and director, for others it is where the film is shot, or perhaps even where the funding came from. I was delighted to find an entry for Lorenzo's Oil on the AusFilms website (momentary triumph after many searching failures). Reviewer Peter Ryan stated: "Here's another film [Lorenzo's Oil] sometimes touted as Australian (e.g. in 'Australian Film 1978-94'), despite the fact that the only Australian connection in the story was a mention of it as one of the countries contributing to membership of the foundation set up by the families of the sufferers from the disease... The Australian label was no doubt claimed as a result of the strong creative input to the film by our mob." (no date given.)

What Ryan is mockingly saying here is that the film to him, just scrapes by as Australian due to the high proportion of the crew from Australia. However, the director alone does not determine the so-called nationality of a film. For example, had director Roberto Benigni filmed his award-winning masterpiece Life is Beautiful in California, using Halle Berry and Denzel Washington in its leading roles, would it still have been named a foreign film? No...quite obviously. The nationality of the director is simply information, trivia - it does not affect the labelling of a film.The fact that Lorenzo's Oil wasn't released in Australia until 2 months after it had come out in the states is undeniable evidence of its Americanism.
There is a certain irony involved in studying Lorenzo's Oil in a unit concerned with Australian Cinema. I believe however, that it is important to examine the work of the director, regardless of the nationality of its actors. Lorenzo's Oil is a good example of the talent of George Miller, the rest is unimportant.
It is fair to state that this film has no position and very little value on the Australian market. It does not depict our way of life, our country has no real place in Australian cinema despite its director. The international appeal of this film was quite large and it was widely received around the world. Lorenzo's Oil was released in Argentina, France, Spain, Finland, Sweden and Germany - as well as Australia and U.S.A

Australian National Cinema as a Medium-Sized English language cinema.

Australian cinema is often described as being medium-sized English-language cinema. Tom O'Regan's work on Australian National Cinema (1996) has explain this to mean that the Australian industry of films only takes a small place on the great national stage, and is often dwarfed by the huge following of American films. Once again, Lorenzo's Oil was produced largely for Americans, by Americans. It is often mocked for its lack of success on the Hollywood blockbuster front, however it silently maintains some nobility as being a strong and influential production, despite the waining Box Office figures.

Attempting to place this film in the national cinema as a medium-sized English -language cinema is an exercise in futility. It belong first and foremost in the large-sized English language cinema - Hollywood. O'Regan speaks of the 'antipodal-ness' of Australian cinema (OâRegan 1996, p.106), in that it must tread the line between being distinctly Australian and being comfortably familiar enough to be accepted by Hollywood. Take for example the huge American following of Peter Faiman's Crocodile Dundee. This film is brimming with Australian cliches and Paul Hogan's cringe-inducing accent may grate the nerves after a bit, however, the American audience found this film fresh and exciting - and apparently hilarious. What may seem like a distortion of the 'norm' for Australians is seen as a brilliant cultural spoof for Americans. That excite ment and adventure side of this film familiar to them, while at the same time the film itself represented a whole new genre of Australian Comedy. Lorenzo's Oil does not tread this line for the simple reason that it is already accepted by the large-sized cinema as an American film. Its main actors, Sarandon and Nolte and multi-millionaires after years of 'making it big-time' in Hollywood.
George Miller's film Lorenzo's Oil has no place in the medium- sized English language cinema, nor for that matter in the Australian Cinema. Its market value is, and always has been, measured in American dollars, despite its Australian director.



References

Books

  • Murray, Scott (editor) 1994. Australian Cinema. p 149, 164. Allen & Unwin, in association with the Australian Film Commission. Australia.
  • OâRegan, T. 1996, Australian National Cinema. p 106. Routledge, London.
Internet Resources