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Amazon.co.uk Review
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
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
112 of 114 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly tells the true story of a Jean Dominique Bauby, the debonair editor of French Elle, who suffered locked in syndrome following a devastating stroke. After the stroke he can only communicate by blinking his eye.
Everything about this as a premise for a film sounds terrible - he does not move, so what is filmic about it; he does not communicate verbally, so where is the dialogue or the relationships; he reflects on his life and his mortality, but how do you show that?
Do not be put off. The film is beautifully made, turning faces into landscapes and using careful palettes of colour to distinguish pre and post stroke scenes. The film shows how Jean-Do becomes a cypher for those around him, providing meaning to their lives, even though inside he is intrinsically himself. In the end, the film is about the meaning of this man's life and all our lives, clear-eyed and fearless.
It is moving without being sentimental or mawkish, insightful, funny, beautiful and intelligent. An absolute must see.
Everything about this as a premise for a film sounds terrible - he does not move, so what is filmic about it; he does not communicate verbally, so where is the dialogue or the relationships; he reflects on his life and his mortality, but how do you show that?
Do not be put off. The film is beautifully made, turning faces into landscapes and using careful palettes of colour to distinguish pre and post stroke scenes. The film shows how Jean-Do becomes a cypher for those around him, providing meaning to their lives, even though inside he is intrinsically himself. In the end, the film is about the meaning of this man's life and all our lives, clear-eyed and fearless.
It is moving without being sentimental or mawkish, insightful, funny, beautiful and intelligent. An absolute must see.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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.
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.
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Just when you started to feel that film had become little more than a merchandising exercise, along comes a release that reminds you what it can be. Reading The Diving Bell one could be forgiven for thinking it essentially unfilmable - so much is going on inside the head of the protagonist, there's little `action' not a great deal of dialogue, a slight plot... Yet, Schnabel's film is touched with genius and blessed with uniformly excellent performances, from the speech therapist down to the telephone engineers. Moreover, unlike other films dealing with disability, where the audience looks `at' the disability, here we look `from' - and there's a big difference. The decision to take the point of view from inside Bauby's head is inspired and completely transforms the relationship of the viewer to the subject. Technically and aesthetically it is a triumph - it's quite difficult to think how it could have been improved, even down to the soundtrack. Obviously, there's a depressing side to the tale of a man stricken by total paralysis(!), but the film stands as a testament to the remarkable resilience of the human spirit.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly DVD
I read the book before watching the DVD. When I put the DVD on I was unaware that it was subtitled, so it was in French with English subtitles. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Nat
to understand Lock in syndrome
Hi I was first lent the DVD with the same title about this man who to my mind achieved his goal. The DVD hit such a spot with me that i bought my own DVD. Read more
Published 2 months ago by M. Sparrow
Movie review
This is a great film, even though it is foreign, The story unwinds delicatly and a bit slow for me, but once it gets going it turns out to be a great film, so give it time
Published 4 months ago by carter83
recommended read
purchased following study day re Mental capacity act this book was recommended by the tutor and has been very thought provocing
Published 12 months ago by Mrs. J. S. Silcock
amazing
i have seen this many times before buying and the film is stunning.
It is shot in a way that you remember it long after, there is perhaps a name for the style but i dont... Read more
It is shot in a way that you remember it long after, there is perhaps a name for the style but i dont... Read more
Published on 19 May 2010 by Mrs. G. J. Fake
A ground-breaking film of great heart
It's not often that a film comes along as exhilarating as this in terms of concept and execution. In terms of lighting, camerawork and editing it breaks every rule in the book -... Read more
Published on 27 Jan 2010 by Peter Scott-presland
Do I have a heart made of stone?
I think I may need to watch this film again as my views is in staggering contrast with the overwhelming majority. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2009 by H. MACQUEEN
"You're waking from a long sleep..."
The films starts with Jean opening his eyes in hospital and realising that nobody can hear him speak, they can't hear him because his words aren't coming out of his mouth - his... Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2009 by GeekZilla
Film realisation of Bauby's stark memoir doesn't really get inside his...
Jean-Dominique Bauby's memoir The Diving-bell and the Butterfly is a great book, produced by a uniquely difficult set of circumstances. Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2009 by Michael Lavocah
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
This was an EXCELLENT film and gave me some insight into the "locked in" conditionThe Diving-bell and the Butterfly
Published on 7 Sep 2009 by G Brownridge
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