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IMDbPro

Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien

  • 19961996
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 35m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
155
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
238,468
91,808
Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien (1996)
DocumentaryShort
Portrait of writer Mark O'Brien, who contracted polio as a child and spent much of his life in an iron lung.Portrait of writer Mark O'Brien, who contracted polio as a child and spent much of his life in an iron lung.Portrait of writer Mark O'Brien, who contracted polio as a child and spent much of his life in an iron lung.
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
155
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
238,468
91,808
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Jessica Yu
    • Writer
      • Jessica Yu
    • Stars
      • Mark O'Brien
      • Elizabeth Duvall
      • Ian Berzon
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Jessica Yu
    • Writer
      • Jessica Yu
    • Stars
      • Mark O'Brien
      • Elizabeth Duvall
      • Ian Berzon
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 8User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 4 wins total

    Photos

    Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien (1996)
    Still of John Hawkes and Annika Marks from "The Sessions" and an image of Mark O'Brien from "Breathing Lessons"
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    Top cast

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    Mark O'Brien
    • Self
    Elizabeth Duvall
    Elizabeth Duvall
    • Self
    Ian Berzon
    • Self
    • Director
      • Jessica Yu
    • Writer
      • Jessica Yu
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Quotes

      Mark O'Brien: Everybody becomes disabled unless they die first.

    User reviews8

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    respiration nation
    I had never heard of Mark O'Brien when Jessica Yu's "Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien" won Best Documentary Short Subject at the Academy Awards. But the documentary shows not only what O'Brien went through, but how he wanted to be known to the world. Basically, he wanted to be known not as a cripple, but as a human. Despite spending most of his life in an iron lung, the polio-afflicted O'Brien managed to be a journalist and poet until his death in 1999.

    Progress with polio has gotten made since the documentary's release. In 2014, only Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan saw cases of the disease, and in 2015 Nigeria had stopped the spread. It sounds like a terrible disease. In the end, Mark O'Brien deserves a lot of credit for what he accomplished, and Jessica Yu deserves credit for bringing his story to the world. I understand that her most recent movie was about water crises.

    I recommend the documentary.
    helpful•2
    0
    • lee_eisenberg
    • Dec 30, 2015

    Details

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    • Release date
      • March 1996 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • Berkeley, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Inscrutable Films
      • Pacific News Service
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      35 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

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