Movie Review

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (PG-13)

Robert Sims

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Hollywood.com Says
Julian Schnabel’s perceptive direction and Mathieu Amalric’s inspired performance make this involving adaptation of the autobiography by magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby—who was left paralyzed at age 43 by a stroke—so much more than France's answer to My Left Foot.

Story
Imagine only being able to communicate through blinking. Now imagine trying to dictate your memoirs in this grueling and time-consuming fashion. That’s how Jean-Dominique Bauby had to put his life and thoughts down on paper. The editor of French Elle suffered a stroke so severe that it rendered him almost entirely paralyzed for the remainder of his short life. He died less than 18 months later, just days after the publication of his 1997 memoirs. Making amends for his laughable adaptation of Love in the Time of Cholera, Ronald Hardwood pays homage to Bauby’s remarkable achievement with an eloquent screenplay that examines the power of the mind over the body. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly begins on the day when Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) wakes up from a coma and is alarmed to find himself in a hospital, completely paralyzed and unable to speak. But his mind is sharp as it ever was. Flashbacks reveal Bauby to be a man who lived life to the fullest and relished every challenge that came his way. So being stuck in a body that no longer functions as it once did is clearly pure hell for Bauby--until his therapist Henriette (Marie-Josee Croze) teaches Bauby to communicate by blinking his left eye. Bauby suddenly decides to honor a book contract he had signed before his stroke--and in the process, he discovers his raison d’être.

Acting
Like My Left Foot’s Daniel Day-Lewis before him, Amalric indelibly proves that the mind can and will thrive even when the body is broken and beyond repair. Amalric, though, has less to work with than the wild-eyed Day-Lewis, who had the luxury of drawing you into his performance by tapping into Irish author Christy Brown’s abrasive personality and larger-than-life presence. It’s mesmerizing to watch the intrepid Amalric at work even though he’s practically motionless for the entire film, bar for a few flashbacks. While the rest of his face remains frozen solid, Amalric eloquently expresses Bauby’s innermost hopes and fears through the mere blink of his left eye. There’s never a time when you don’t know how Bauby feels. And his narration is laced with gallows humor, which helps keep Diving Bell free from drowning in sentimentality. As Bauby’s therapist, Croze personifies patience, dedication and resourcefulness we all expect and demand from health-care professionals but don’t always receive. Emmanuelle Seigner maintains a brave face as Bauby’s neglected wife, Céline. You wait for Céline to crumble, especially as Bauby never stops asking about his mistress, but Seigner reveals Céline to be caring and forgiving. The most heartbreaking moments come between Amalric and Max von Sydow, who plays Bauby’s father, who is much trapped inside his apartment as Bauby is inside his body. There’s great sadness and regret to be found in von Sydow’s every word as he comes to the painful realization that he will outlive his rich and successful son, which no father wants to do.

Direction
Yes, Diving Bell is the latest in a long line of inspirational fact-based films about physically and/or mentally challenged people mastering their disabilities. But director Julian Schnabel distinguishes himself and the film by shooting the first act solely from Babuy’s perspective. We see everything Bauby sees through his one good eye from the moment he comes out of his coma. What follows is confusing, disorienting and taxing. And darkly humorous, as evidenced by Bauby’s admiration of his females nurses. Schnabel’s approach, though, works to dramatic effect because we receive a greater understanding and appreciation of what Bauby’s experiencing. Stay the course and you will be rewarded for your patience. Once Bauby comes to terms with his fate, and refuses to spend the rest of his days wallowing in self pity, Schnabel finally turns his camera on Bauby to reveal his post-stroke physical appearance. It’s a quiet but ingenious way for us to accept Bauby as he accepts himself. Schnabel then concentrates on Bauby’s Herculean effort to dictate his autobiography, which is occasionally interrupted by poignant flights of fantasy (it’s not hard to guess what the diving bell and the butterfly symbolize). Equal amounts of joy and regret are be found in Bauby’s reminiscing, but Schnabel never tries to romanticize his subject or ignore to his past transgressions. Diving Bell doesn’t set to turn a flawed man into a hero, but Bauby’s will and determination ultimately reinforces the notion that anything’s possible if you set your mind to it.

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