The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

First Hit: I liked this autobiographical story but didn’t think it was a great film.

Julian Schnabel films this autobiographical story of Elle magazine editor, Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a stroke at age 43 and was paralyzed from head to toe.

Jean-Dominique is left with two good eyes and can hear. But because one eye cannot naturally be lubricated, they close it up by sewing it, something you witness from inside the eye. Therefore Bauby is left with one good eye which he uses to pan his viewing area and by blinking. By using one blink for yes and two for no, he begins to communicate with people via yes and no questions.

To expand his communicative abilities, he gets a secretary or aid who repeats the alphabet arranged by letter most used and when she reaches the letter he wants he blinks one time. She repeats the letter, he blinks again and she writes it down.

As they learn to communicate this way she learns how to fill predict the words so they don’t have to do all the letters.

I thought Anne Consigny as the secretary/aid was outstanding. The book, in which this film is based, was created through this painstaking process.

Other ways Schnabel helps you understand Bauby’s predicament is by shooting much of the film from the subjective point of view therefore many of the actors are acting directly into the camera. Additionally, Schnabel shares some of Bauby's thoughts, daydreams (hence the title of the film) and sparsely placed flash backs showing the audience the kind of life he had prior to the stroke.

Overall: I liked this film and I liked a lot of the acting but I didn’t walk out of the theater thinking this was a great film.

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