The Diving Bell & the Butterfly
(B+ or 3/4 stars)
1995: 43 yr. old Elle magazine editor, Jean-Dominique Bauby, suffers a massive stroke and is forced to live IN his paralyzed body. The only body part that moves ... is his left eye. Using that eye, Bauby is able to blink (literally) his memoirs into an autobiography. With the help of the several women in his life, his innermost thoughts would be transcribed so as to let his friends, family (and the public) know what it's like to have this condition. 'The Diving Bell & the Butterfly', a French biodrama directed by Julian Schnabel, is emotionally pleasing, but not inspirational (how could it be?). It's sad, but not sappy. And Bauby's inner monologues even inject some humor. Schnabel does a wonderful job conducting the true story, his superb actors, & some exhilarating photo-imagery.
Jean-Do. Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) was a smart, successful, charismatic man who may have taken the great things in his life for granted. He flaunts his new car, gets to order people around at 'Elle', and juggles several girlfriends. Though he has obvious commitment issues, he's never avoided his 3 adoring children, Theophile, Celeste, & Hortense. It's upon driving Theophile to the theater one day that he's hit with the debilitating stroke. Awake from a 3 week coma and unable to speak (or move), the doctors tell him he has 'locked-in syndrome'. The brain works, but he'd now have to blink his left eye once or twice in order to communicate 'yes' & 'no' answers. With time (and frustration), a speech therapist (a great Marie-Josee Croze) teaches him to complete full thoughts by blinking to indicate various letters of the alphabet. It could take as long as a minute to complete 1 word, but Jean-Dominique refused to give up on life because of his misfortune.
He's obviously depressed. But Jean-Dominique is able to escape his dire situation by daydreaming various memories, and/or fantasies from the realms of his deepest imagination. By watching his life in memory (flashback sequences), we are able to see the type of man he was. He's a man who, at one time, loved the mother of his 3 children, Celine (Emmanuelle Singer, of La Vie En Rose), but moved on. And he's a man who has a very close bond to his dad (a touching performance by Max Von Sydow). Because his elderly father cannot leave his apartment (due to health reasons), they realize they're in the same boat. After watching a plentitude of physical therapy sessions, verbal lessons, and the like ... the film comes to a climax when his memoirs, 'Scaphandre et le papillon, Le' are published. There's closure. Though the stroke initially left him hopeless, his imagination allowed him to reflect (and even discover) what he cherishes most.
The title of the film is a metaphor of his condition: his body is immobilized as if inside a diving bell outfit; but at the same time, his inner spirit is being enlightened (light as a butterfly). Jean-Do (his nickname) had it all; it just took a horrifying event to let him realize just how good he had it. With the help of his pretty editor, Claude (Anne Consigny), it only takes a year to blink-communicate his life-affirming novel; a novel that asks us (the readers/subsequent viewers) to look at our own conscious lives & be thankful for what we have in our grasp. Thanks to a wonderful cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, we watch the film as if we were Jean-Do himself; hearing & seeing life as a constricted prism ... a limited blur of depressingly static events, poignant memories, or vibrant usage of imagination.
This is an easy film to sit through. It's both inventive & surreal. That doesn't mean it will appeal to everybody. Given its nature, and how it's shot, I could see some people leaving unaffected or slightly bored. Movies are either art or pure entertainment; rarely are they both. I feel this film encapsulates both (with emphasis on art). I mentioned the word 'poignant' earlier. One such moment is when one of Jean-Do's lovers calls him, and only Celine (the mother of his children) is there to transcribe her amorous messages to him, and vice-versa. You see the pain in the eye(s) of her & Jean-Do. But aside from rare moments such as this, the film keeps sentimentality on the back burner. Jean-Do is not an inspiration, he's a 'slightly' egotistical man who accomplished something extraordinary by creating his novel. We absolutely empathize with him, but there is not heart-wrenching pity. And for that, I'm glad to have witnessed his story, & the beautiful film it depicts.
Jean-Do. Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) was a smart, successful, charismatic man who may have taken the great things in his life for granted. He flaunts his new car, gets to order people around at 'Elle', and juggles several girlfriends. Though he has obvious commitment issues, he's never avoided his 3 adoring children, Theophile, Celeste, & Hortense. It's upon driving Theophile to the theater one day that he's hit with the debilitating stroke. Awake from a 3 week coma and unable to speak (or move), the doctors tell him he has 'locked-in syndrome'. The brain works, but he'd now have to blink his left eye once or twice in order to communicate 'yes' & 'no' answers. With time (and frustration), a speech therapist (a great Marie-Josee Croze) teaches him to complete full thoughts by blinking to indicate various letters of the alphabet. It could take as long as a minute to complete 1 word, but Jean-Dominique refused to give up on life because of his misfortune.
He's obviously depressed. But Jean-Dominique is able to escape his dire situation by daydreaming various memories, and/or fantasies from the realms of his deepest imagination. By watching his life in memory (flashback sequences), we are able to see the type of man he was. He's a man who, at one time, loved the mother of his 3 children, Celine (Emmanuelle Singer, of La Vie En Rose), but moved on. And he's a man who has a very close bond to his dad (a touching performance by Max Von Sydow). Because his elderly father cannot leave his apartment (due to health reasons), they realize they're in the same boat. After watching a plentitude of physical therapy sessions, verbal lessons, and the like ... the film comes to a climax when his memoirs, 'Scaphandre et le papillon, Le' are published. There's closure. Though the stroke initially left him hopeless, his imagination allowed him to reflect (and even discover) what he cherishes most.
The title of the film is a metaphor of his condition: his body is immobilized as if inside a diving bell outfit; but at the same time, his inner spirit is being enlightened (light as a butterfly). Jean-Do (his nickname) had it all; it just took a horrifying event to let him realize just how good he had it. With the help of his pretty editor, Claude (Anne Consigny), it only takes a year to blink-communicate his life-affirming novel; a novel that asks us (the readers/subsequent viewers) to look at our own conscious lives & be thankful for what we have in our grasp. Thanks to a wonderful cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, we watch the film as if we were Jean-Do himself; hearing & seeing life as a constricted prism ... a limited blur of depressingly static events, poignant memories, or vibrant usage of imagination.
This is an easy film to sit through. It's both inventive & surreal. That doesn't mean it will appeal to everybody. Given its nature, and how it's shot, I could see some people leaving unaffected or slightly bored. Movies are either art or pure entertainment; rarely are they both. I feel this film encapsulates both (with emphasis on art). I mentioned the word 'poignant' earlier. One such moment is when one of Jean-Do's lovers calls him, and only Celine (the mother of his children) is there to transcribe her amorous messages to him, and vice-versa. You see the pain in the eye(s) of her & Jean-Do. But aside from rare moments such as this, the film keeps sentimentality on the back burner. Jean-Do is not an inspiration, he's a 'slightly' egotistical man who accomplished something extraordinary by creating his novel. We absolutely empathize with him, but there is not heart-wrenching pity. And for that, I'm glad to have witnessed his story, & the beautiful film it depicts.