Saturday at the Movies: The Boy with the Incredible Brain (2

Post Reply New Topic

Every Saturday night on WrongPlanet.net, a discussion will ensue about a selected autism-related film. Please, take care to avoid spoilers (or, at least, flag them) to prevent potential viewers from learning too much about the story in advance of their viewing. Tonight’s selected film is:

The Boy with the Incredible Brain (60 minutes), an episode of the Channel 5 television series Extraordinary People which was first broadcast in 2005 and presented a biographical documentary about the life of prodigious autistic savant Daniel Tammet. The film is available for viewing on YouTube under the search term The Boy With The Incredible Brain (Brain Man) - Real Stories.

The film is a breathtaking story. Tammet, a twenty-something with extraordinary mental abilities is one of the world’s few savants. He can do calculations to 100 decimal places in his head, and learn a language in a week. In the film, he travels to America to meet the scientists who are convinced he may hold the key to unlocking similar abilities in everyone. He meets the world’s most famous savant, the man who inspired Dustin Hoffman’s character in the Oscar-winning film Rain Man, Kim Peek.

If you have viewed this film, what are your opinions about it?

I think I saw this years ago, but I just rewatched it. I didn't like it as a documentary. I prefer those to have less narration and focus more on the people like Autism in Love. However, I like the topic; the savants in the film are fascinating people. It's just funny how in the film a researcher says studying savants will change everything because it hasn't changed anything (that I've noticed). There are no shocking treatments to induce savantism. I don't see much research about the field compared to research about, say, curing autism.

For next week, if I can be so bold as to recommend a film, I would suggest Big Eden. It's a romance where one of the characters could be interpreted as autistic; it's very good, but somewhat obscure.

I wondered about the overselling of Daniel Tammet myself. He has appeared, to me anyway, to have returned to a private life in France with his partner. In any case, I have't read, viewed or listened to anything about his savantism in years; in fact, his own web site/blog doesn't appear to have been updated since 2013. If it is because he chose to leave being put under a microscope, I applaud his decision.