Julian Schnabel's masterpiece The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a little difficult to get into, but maybe that's just me. The movie, based on the biographical book by the same name, is the story of what happens to Jean-Dominique Bauby when he wakes up to find himself paralyzed in a hospital. While his physical condition is as bad as it could be, his mind is sharp and present. What he can't do, at the outset, is communicate.
Bauby is suffering from a brain stem deterioration. This leaves him paralyzed. His condition is rare and incurable, but with the help of dedicated therapist's he's not only learns to communicate but to write the book.The method used is painstaking and a hard on everyone. At first the only thing that he can do is blink his left eye. His therapist teaches him a system; he blinks once to answer no to a question; he blinks twice for yes. His therapist simply recites the alphabet starting with the most used letters and progressing until Bauby blinks.
Bauby's relationship with his colleagues at Ellie magazine, his wife, children and lover are tested and expanded in new directions. You need only to see Bauby's wife trying to help him communicate with his long time lover to realize the love and care these people have for him and the courage Bauby has to live in this life that he is force to live.
Courage and a huge desire to live, aided by the ability of dedicated health-care practitioners, permit Bauby to give his life value in the face of almost unbelievable barriers. Schnabel films this story from the disturbing and often confusing perspective of the subject. Blurry fade in and fade outs give us the frustrating view of the world from the strangely afflicted victim. The camera challenges the viewer to visit the body and mind of Bauby and try to imagine living in this state. While this technique is difficult to get into at first, it does grow on you. This film is one that uses special effects to inform rather than trying to sucker the viewer into feeling car wrecked.
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