Movie Review: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly tells the extraordinary true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the one-time editor of the French edition of Elle magazine, who in 1995 suffered a stroke that left him entirely paralysed except for his left eye. The film is directed by painter-turned-director Julian Schnabel, and adopts an unconventional narrative technique to depict this remarkable story of triumph over tragedy.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly tells the extraordinary true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the one-time editor of the French edition of Elle magazine.
In 1995, Bauby suffered a stroke that left him entirely paralysed except for his left eye. Bauby refused to let his affliction stem his creativity, and with the help of his therapist, developed a system whereby he dictated an entire novel detailing his struggle.
The film version of this story is directed by painter-turned-director Julian Schnabel, who adopts a similarly unconventional narrative technique. The film opens, and continues for 15 minutes, with a single shot, as seen through Bauby's eye. We see only the things he does – the doctors and visiting love ones – and hear Bauby's words as he comes to terms with his terrible condition.
As the film continues, Schnabel does introduce more conventional shots but returns to Bauby's point of view throughout. Aided by some extraordinary photography from veteran cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, Schnabel creates an often disorientating but entirely unique viewing experience. But in addition to being a dazzling technical exercise, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is also a painfully moving film. At the centre is the performance of Mathieu Amalric, who with only his voice and a single blinking eye gives one of the year's most memorable acting turns...
When it comes to triumph-over-tragedy movies like this, for every My Left Foot there's a dozen I Am Sams. Luckily, Schnabel never resorts to mawkishness, and lets the pain of the situation form the film's emotional centre. It's not all misery, however, as we see snapshots of Bauby's life before the stroke, and even glimpses of an outlandish alternative world into which he can escape. With so many Oscar-contenders currently crowding cinemas it's possible that a film like this might get a little lost, but it remains an inventive and moving film that's well worth seeking out.
If arthouse experimental cinematography isn't your idea of a great night out then check out our other reviews on this Oscar-nomination heavy week: Best Picture and Best Actor nominee There Will Be Blood and Best Picture and Best Actress nominee Juno.
This video was recommended by 1 user out of 1
- Your comments
Anonymous Coward 03 May 2008 10:54pm
I read this book Diving Bell & Butterfly--based on true story--on DVD--watched last night--if you don't watch this movie--you are a disgrace to the human race--
- Sponsored Links
Anonymous Coward 16 June 2008 07:50am
I loved "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", but the movie I'd rather see is "My Stroke of Insight", which is the amazing bestselling book by Dr Jill Bolte Taylor. It is an incredible story and there's a happy ending. She was a 37 year old Harvard brain scientist who had a stroke in the left half of her brain. The story is about how she fully recovered, what she learned and experienced, and it teaches a lot about how to live a better life. Her TEDTalk at TED dot com is fantastic too. It's been spread online millions of times and you'll see why!
Post your own comment here