This document provides a summary of the 1992 film Lorenzo's Oil, which tells the true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone's relentless search for a cure for their son Lorenzo's rare genetic disease, adrenoleukodystrophy. Desperate to save Lorenzo after conventional medicine had failed, the parents research the disease themselves and create an experimental oil treatment that initially halts the progression of the disease. While Lorenzo's condition improves, the film shows the treatment was not a complete cure and more research was still needed. It highlights the parents' determination in finding a therapy when doctors had given up hope.
This document provides a summary of the 1992 film Lorenzo's Oil, which tells the true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone's relentless search for a cure for their son Lorenzo's rare genetic disease, adrenoleukodystrophy. Desperate to save Lorenzo after conventional medicine had failed, the parents research the disease themselves and create an experimental oil treatment that initially halts the progression of the disease. While Lorenzo's condition improves, the film shows the treatment was not a complete cure and more research was still needed. It highlights the parents' determination in finding a therapy when doctors had given up hope.
This document provides a summary of the 1992 film Lorenzo's Oil, which tells the true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone's relentless search for a cure for their son Lorenzo's rare genetic disease, adrenoleukodystrophy. Desperate to save Lorenzo after conventional medicine had failed, the parents research the disease themselves and create an experimental oil treatment that initially halts the progression of the disease. While Lorenzo's condition improves, the film shows the treatment was not a complete cure and more research was still needed. It highlights the parents' determination in finding a therapy when doctors had given up hope.
This document provides a summary of the 1992 film Lorenzo's Oil, which tells the true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone's relentless search for a cure for their son Lorenzo's rare genetic disease, adrenoleukodystrophy. Desperate to save Lorenzo after conventional medicine had failed, the parents research the disease themselves and create an experimental oil treatment that initially halts the progression of the disease. While Lorenzo's condition improves, the film shows the treatment was not a complete cure and more research was still needed. It highlights the parents' determination in finding a therapy when doctors had given up hope.
This article is about the 1992 lm. For the triglyceride proper formula. The oil, erucic acid, proves successful mixture used in treatment of adrenoleukodystrophy, in normalizing the accumulation of the very long chain see Lorenzos oil. For discussion of several therapies fatty acids in the brain that had been causing their sons for adrenoleukodystrophy, see Adrenoleukodystrophy steady decline, thereby halting the progression of the dis- Treatment. ease. There is still a great deal of neurological damage remaining which could not be reversed unless new treat- ments could be found to regenerate the myelin sheath (a Lorenzos Oil is a 1992 American drama lm directed by George Miller. It is based on the true story of Augusto lipid insulator) around the nerves. The father is seen tak- and Michaela Odone, two parents in a relentless search ing on the new challenge of organizing biomedical eorts for a cure for their son Lorenzo's adrenoleukodystrophy to heal myelin damage in patients. (ALD). The lm was nominated for two Academy Finally, Lorenzo, at the age of 14, shows denite im- Awards. It was lmed primarily from September 1991 provement (swallowing for himself and answering yes to February 1992 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1] The lm or no questions by blinking) but more medical research had a limited release in North America on December 30, is still needed. Ultimately it is revealed that Lorenzo has 1992, with a nationwide release two weeks later on Jan- also regained his sight and is learning to use a computer. uary 15, 1993.
2 Cast 1 Plot Nick Nolte as Augusto Odone Lorenzo (Zack O'Malley Greenburg) is a bright and vi- brant young boy living in the Comoro Islands, as his fa- Susan Sarandon as Michaela Odone ther Augusto (Nick Nolte) works for the World Bank and is stationed there. However, when his parents relocate to Zack O'Malley Greenburg as Lorenzo Odone the United States, he begins to show neurological prob- Peter Ustinov as Professor Nikolais lems, such as loss of hearing, tantrums, etc. The boy is diagnosed as having adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), which Kathleen Wilhoite as Deirdre Murphy is fatal within two years. Failing to nd a doctor capable of treating their sons rare disease, Augusto and his wife Gerry Bamman as Doctor Judalon Michaela (Susan Sarandon) set out on a mission to nd a treatment to save their child. In their quest, the Odones Margo Martindale as Wendy Gimble clash with doctors, scientists, and support groups, who are skeptical that anything could be done about ALD, much James Rebhorn as Ellard Muscatine less by laypeople. But they persist, setting up camp in medical libraries, reviewing animal experiments, enlist- Ann Hearn as Loretta Muscatine ing the aid of Professor Gus Nikolais (Peter Ustinov), Maduka Steady as Omouri badgering researchers, questioning top doctors all over the world, and even organizing an international sympo- Mary Wakio as Comorian Teacher sium about the disease. Despite research dead-ends, the horror of watching their Don Suddaby as himself sons health decline, and being surrounded by skeptics (including the coordinators of the support group they at- Colin Ward as Jake Gimble tend), they persist until they nally hit upon a therapy in- La Tanya Richardson as Nurse Ruth volving adding a certain kind of oil (actually containing two specic long chain fatty acids, isolated from rapeseed Jennifer Dundas as Nurse Nancy Jo oil and olive oil) to their sons diet. They contact over 100 rms around the world until they nd an elderly British William Cameron as Pellerman chemist (Don Suddaby) working for Croda International who is willing to take on the challenge of distilling the Elizabeth Daily as Lorenzo Odone (Voice)
1 2 6 REFERENCES
3 Production term eectiveness in treating ALD after its onset,[6] but
the oil is highly eective if provided before onset.[5] The Principal photography for Lorenzos Oil began on actual subject of the lm, Lorenzo Odone, died of pneu- September 9, 1991 in Ben Avon, Pennsylvania.[2] monia in May 2008 at the age of 30, having lived two decades longer than originally predicted by doctors.[7] Possibly to emphasize the Everyman aspect of the plot (the notion that a cure could aect families and individ- Hugo Moser, whom Professor Nikolais was based on, was uals anywhere), many smaller roles were played by in- very angry at the way the lm portrayed him. experienced actors or non-actors with unusual physical features and mannerisms. For example, the poet James Merrill was noticed by a casting director at a New York 4.3 Box oce public reading of his poetry. His rareed speaking ca- While a critical success, the lm was a nancial disap- dences were utilized in a symposium scene in which he pointment taking in $7,286,388 domestically with a bud- played a questioning doctor. get of around $30 million.[8][9]
3.1 Music 4.4 Awards and honors
The lm features Allegris Miserere and Edward Elgar's Lorenzos Oil was nominated twice at the 65th Academy cello concerto, as well as Barber's Adagio for Strings and Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Susan Saran- Mozarts Ave verum corpus. don) and Best Original Screenplay (George Miller & Nick The opening song is Kijana Mwana Mwali (Song Enright). about a Young Lady), sung by the Gonda Traditional En- Susan Sarandon was nominated for Best Actress at the tertainers. 50th Golden Globe Awards. A 1960 recording of Maria Callas with the La Scala The lm was nominated for Best Original Screenplay orchestra and chorus is heard singing selections from Written Directly for the Screen at the WGA Awards. Bellinis Norma at several points. Also, the lm is recognized by American Film Institute The music for the Easter Midnight Mass scene is a in these lists: Russian Orthodox Church hymn, Bogoroditse Devo (Rejoice, O Virgin) from Three Choruses from 'Tsar Feodor Ioannovich'", taken from the album Sacred Songs 2006: AFIs 100 Years...100 Cheers [10] of Russia by Gloriae Dei Cantores. Nominated
4 Reception 5 See also
Voglia di vivere, a 1990 Italian television lm de- 4.1 Critical response picting the same story.
Lorenzos Oil was acclaimed by critics. Roger Ebert of the Lorenzo, a song by Phil Collins, released on the 1996 Chicago Sun Times gave it four out of four stars and called album Dance into the Light, is based on a poem it an immensely moving and challenging movie.[3] He Michaela wrote about Lorenzo. added, it was impossible not to get swept up in it and James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave it three out of four Extraordinary Measures, a 2010 lm depicting the stars and claimed, it was about the war for knowledge true story of another set of parents struggle to nd and the victory of hope through perseverance. Review a cure for their childrens rare disease. aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively col- lected reviews from 32 critics to give the lm a score of 95%, with an average rating of 7/10.[4] 6 References [1] Pittsburgh - City lands good share of movies. The Vin- 4.2 Medical response dicator. 10 December 1995.
Though the lm seemed to accurately portray the events [2] Blank, Ed (August 31, 1991). Producer excited about Ben Avon as site for movie 'Lorenzos Oil'". Pittsburgh related to the boys condition and his parents eorts dur- Press. Retrieved May 12, 2015. ing the time period covered by the lm, it was criticized for painting a picture of a miracle cure.[5] Subsequent re- [3] Lorenzos Oil. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2010-11- search with Lorenzos oil has not clearly proven its long- 21. 3
[5] Lorenzos Oil: The full story. BBC News. BBC News. 21 July 2004. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
[6] Moser, H. W.; Moser, A. B.; Hollandsworth, K.; Brere-
ton, N. H.; Raymond, G. V. (2007). ""Lorenzos oil ther- apy for X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy: Rationale and current assessment of ecacy. Journal of molecular neu- roscience : MN. 33 (1): 105113. doi:10.1007/s12031- 007-0041-4. PMID 17901554.
[7] Lorenzo loses battle for life but legacy of hope lives on. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Ltd. 31 May 2008. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
[8] Lorenzos Oil (1992)". IMDB. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
8.2 Images File:Question_book-new.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Question_book-new.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0 Contributors: Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist: Tkgd2007
