By Paul R. Burghardt, PhD

Surfing around the free movies section that comes with my cable subscription I found a documentary on HBO titled: “Wide Awake” by Alan Berliner. I wanted to blog on it for a few reasons. First, it was a well produced documentary. Second, it deals with sub-optimal-sleep which we discuss in our book, BrainFit for Life, and is a looming problem in many societies. Finally, it has an underlying theme regarding the need for balancing life and setting priorities.

Berliner, a filmmaker, has suffered from insomnia for several decades. This documentary chronicles his efforts to understand roots of his sub-optimal-sleep, highlighting his angst and frustration regarding its impact on his function during “normal” daytime hours. In addition, he is clearly concerned that his sleep problems will be inherited by his newly born son.

He uses montage’s of old footage coupled with current footage of himself and his family that gave me a feel for how his thoughts and feelings (as I imagine) interact with his struggle to optimize his sleep and find better balance in his life.

One of the more entertaining sections of the film is where Berliner, who allegedly never uses caffeine, drinks a cup of coffee as an experiment. What ensues is a pretty entertaining segment where you see his alertness continue to increase while he fervently drains his cup of coffee. The final shot has him essentially shaking the last drops out of the cup into his mouth, after which he takes the camera man on a caffeine-fueled tour of his editing studio.

From a cinematic standpoint (in my humble opinion as a sub-amateur film critic), this film was put together very nicely. Stepping back to survey the whole story, however begs the question of whether his insomnia really is a problem?

You could probably take a yes or no vantage point depending on what you would define as a “problem.”

Ok, let’s say it is a problem, but why? Well, Berliner believes that his sleep pattern is disrupting his ability to function. That’s a pretty good definition, by all rights, but is it fair? He is an award-winning director, which would suggest that he actually performs above normal in that aspect of his life. It happens that the time he is most creative and productive is during the night. So it may be that he is more of an “owl” than a “lark” and he should adjust his life accordingly.

That might lead us to say that it’s not a problem. However, what is best for his creativity, and therefore his job, might not be the best for the other aspects of his life. This theme appears to pop-up when viewing his interactions with his family and his desire to keep his son from experiencing the same types of sleep problems.

Even if you don’t struggle with sub-optimal-sleep this movie is probably worth watching from a cinematic standpoint and as a subtle example highlighting the need for balance in one’s life. Check it out below.

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