When a womanizing French magazine editor has a stroke, he finds himself paralyzed, able to only blink his left eye; he learns to communicate.

CRITIQUE

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is based on the true story of French Elle Magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a stroke that left him almost completely paralyzed, only able to move his left eye; his brain was completely undamaged, but he found himself helplessly trapped in his body.  Though it would seem hard to capture this in a movie, director Julian Schnabel does a very solid job letting the audience experience things from Bauby’s point of view, and ultimately this is a solid, moving film.

Schnabel (working from a script by Ronald Harwood) jumps right into the action here, starting the film with a confused Bauby coming to and trying to figure out what has happened to him.  Large chunks of the film are shot as if we are Bauby, looking at the world with his now-limited POV, and this is very effective; this film has a very artistic feel, often working as a collage of Bauby’s post-stroke life, rather than really worrying about try narrative structure.

There is some definite story here, however, mostly involving Bauby’s learning how to communicate by blinking his one eye, as well as attempting to regain movement.  The pre-stroke Bauby was a womanizer and not a particularly good husband and father, which adds a nice layer to the characterization here, as we really get the sense that this selfish man, forced to look at the world in a different way, is becoming a better person.

The tale intercuts nicely between hospital scenes and Bauby’s imagination and memories, to help flesh out his life and story; we are also privy to Bauby’s thoughts, which helps give real insight into his experiences as well.  The acting is solid throughout, particularly  Mathieu Amalric as Bauby, forced to play two very different characters in the man Bauby was, and the one he becomes.  Ultimately, this movie is different in all the right ways, really doing a very good job showing things from Bauby’s perspective and drawing us into his tale.

THE VIDEO

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is presented in widescreen.  Though some of the footage is fuzzy on purpose, it is captured well, and the transfer is good.

THE AUDIO

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is presented in French, English and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Surround.  Dialogue, music and sound effects come through clear, while the English dubbing of the film (shot in French) is solid.  There are English, French and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

There is a Commentary featuring director Julian Schnabel, though it isn’t very solid; there are a lot of wordless moments, while too often Schnabel is content to identify actors rather than really talk in-depth about the filmmaking.

Submerged is a 12–minute making-of documentary that works better in giving a look at the cast and the production.

A Cinematic Vision is a fairly-solid 7-minute piece focusing on achieving the POV look of most of the film.

There is a 20-minute Charlie Rose Interview with Schnabel, in which Rose gets Schnabel to talk a lot about what the movie means to him.  Schnabel could have used this type of prodding during the commentary.

FINAL THOUGHTS

An artsy, different kind of film that isn’t for all tastes, but those who give it a try are unlikely to regret the decision.