The Diving Bell And The Butterfly [2007] - DVD (Mathieu Amalric, Lopez Garmendia, Emma De Caunes, Jean-Philippe Watkins, Nicolas Le Riche - Dir: Julian Schnabel)

The seemingly claustrophobic story of a man imprisoned in his paralysed body becomes a dazzling and expansive movie about love, imagination, and the will to live. After a stroke, Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric, Kings and Queen) can only move his left eye--and through that eye he learns to communicate, one letter at a time. With the help of his speech therapist (Marie-Josee Croze, Munich) and a stenographer (Anne Consigny, Anna M.), Bauby writes the stunning memoir The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. But such a plot summary makes the movie sound like lofty, self-important medicine--far from it. Director Julian Schnabel (Basquiat, Before Night Falls), working from an elegant screenplay by Ronald Harwood (The Pianist) and with an outstanding cast (which also includes Frantic's Emmanuelle Seigner as Bauby's neglected wife), has created a movie as engrossing and hypnotic as a thriller, a movie that wrestles with mortality yet has stubborn streaks of dark humour and eroticism, that portrays a man who overcomes unimaginable obstacles but refuses to paint him as a saint. Schnabel was once dismissed as a pompous and overblown painter, but he's crafted an intimate visual poem, a humble sonata about life at its most fragile. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews of The Diving Bell And The Butterfly [2007]

why read,watch or listen to normal stuff?
WALES--UK
19th November 2008

absolutely painful to warch
painful to watch because it uncompromisingly puts you in the head ( literally ) of the central character who can no longer talk and can hardly move - he can still look at women's breasts, which probably makes it even worse! When you realise that it's all true, and that he actually did get a book out by only blinking, it is heartwrenching. You just know it is going to end badly, unless you regard the book's publication as a vindication of the human spirit - I suppose it is , it's just that I didn't feel good about that.

willow
The Universe
21st October 2008

The Best French Film Since Amelie!
'The Diving Bell & The Butterfly' is without doubt the best French film of the past couple of years.
The best words I can use to describe this film are; beautiful, poignant, sad & funny.
The subject matter is pretty morbid, based on the autobiograpphical book of the same title about a former Vogue editor who had a stroke & developed 'locked-in-syndrome' whereby he is unable to move his body or communicate, but his mind is fully working.
The very stricken upon lead (Jean-Do) is played by Mathieu Amalric.
His estranged partner- mother to his three children (played by Emmanuelle Seigners) is one of the other lead characters who helps Jean-Do through his nightmare-like state. The carer who puts a lot of time & effort into helping Jean-Do is Henriette (Marie-Josee Croze). These are in my mind the most apparent characters in the film.
What I really liked about the film was the first-person narrating from Jean-Do, he tells his story while appearing completely out of it. He is brought from being a well respected magazine editor to being a dependent hospital patient, able to do little or nothing for himself.
There wasn't anything about the film I didn't like, come to think of it, I personally don't think there were any major flaws or disappointments.
As the viewer watches the first fives minutes they are launched into seeing Jean-Do's decendance into his own physical prison.
The subject matter is unsettling & the thought of it is horrible that a person could go through such a thing, which appears to be one of the most debilitating & frustrating condition I have ever seen on film.
All the while Jean-Do retains his sense of humour, impacting those around him profoundly. The fact that the movie has some very funny scenes is a triumph, throughout Jean-Do's wallowing & self-pity he has a laugh at his own infliction, contemplates his life & achievements & learns to communicate by winking to yes & no answers.
Becuase of Jean-Do's high profile he decides to write an autobiography, so he enlists a writer to tell his life story.
Unfortunately, just when the viewer thinks everything is going to be okay, things get much worse.
I cried a lot at the end of this film. It gave me a new lease of life & shows that the simple pleasures in life are the most important & love transcends everything.
The performances in the film are amazing, particularly , Mathieu Amalric's, that even though he is confined to most scenes with his face in the same position, he has that undeniable behind-the-eye emotion that makes him perform well & I think crying without moving your face is quite an achievement (not just sit there doing nothing).
Emmanuelle Seigner is great as his ex-partner (Celine) who seems to be grieving the loss of her children's father before he's dead & she is supportive of him throughout the film even though one gets the impression that she is still in love with Jean-Do. Marie-Josee Croze is amazing as his carer, she has a natural beauty that fits in well with her character, Henriette is clearly a complex woman who clearly does her job for fulfillment & she like many others has a bond & a conection with Jean-Do.
'The Diving Bell & The Butterfly' is unmissable, the movie has a rare quality that enables the viewer to laugh & cry during one scene.
A must see, even though it is a sad film, you'll probably go out of it feeling good.

L. Davidson
Belfast, N.Ireland
17th August 2008

Clever and Original Film
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is a gripping French film based on a true story about a renowned magazine editor,who after suffering a devastating stroke became paralysed,only able to communicate by blinking one of his eyes. The acting in the film is of a very high standard throughout as we watch the immobile Jean-Do face up to his life altering circumstances at first with despair but then with resignation and finally acceptance of his horrible fate. He is lucky in that he has the love of two women,his wife and mistress to keep him going , as well as his three children and several attentive speech therapists and helpers. Their support bolsters his spirits and enable him to "write" his memoirs and share his experiences of life as a victim of "locked in" syndrome with the world.The film is at times depressing and sad , but it is vital and original as well.

alimack
Glasgow, Scotland.
13th August 2008

Not a patch on the book!
The book was extraordinary, both for how it was painstakingly written and the condition of JDB, but mostly because it was genuinely uplifting.

The film despite being beautifully shot and well played just can't compete, it keeps having to tell us things rather than show them and basically becomes a monologue. The imagery of the diving bell which worked to well in the book falls apart when it's shown on screen - it rendered too plodding and literal. Essentially it's un-filmable.

Disappointing, stick with the book despite being a brave effort.

E. McKiernan
UK
4th July 2008

Funny, moving and beautifully shot - the best film of 2007!
The book is so beautiful a piece of personal philosophy that I went to see the film with some trepidation, but if anything the film adds to the book by Bauby. The film is beautifully shot, funny and moving (but not in a sentimental way).

The director (who does not speak fluent French) chose to retain the original language of the book and this, I believe speaks volumes in a world of cinema where the digestability of a film by a mass audience is often classed as more important than retaining the soul of a piece of artistic cinema. The film was originally meant to be made by Pathe and star Jonny Depp - I think a tragedy was averted!

This film can be enjoyed (yes enjoyed - despite its theme it really isnt at all depressing) on so many levels - as a compelling human story, as an uplifting philosophy and as a work of art. You should not miss this film.