Member review

Diving Bell and the Butterfly Review Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Directed by Julian Schnabel) is an adaptation of the Bibliography of Jean-Dominique Bauby (Played by Mathieu Amalric) a 42-year-old man who suffers a stroke that puts him in a permanent state of paralysis being unable to move any part of his body besides his eyes. Originally he wishes nothing but death due to the dull lifestyle he has now, but thanks to the help he receives from his family and the nurses at the hospital, they find him a way to communicate by blinking using his right eye, as a way to stop any of his eyes becoming septic they sow one shut which this scene is done with a point of view of his left eye as you can see it being sewn shut by the needle. It's a very powerful yet cringe-worthy scene as Bauby begs the doctor in his head to not touch his eyes. He eventually gets round to writing his Bibliography by just writing with a fellow girl and blinking to spell out what he wants to say using the alphabet. The film is very powerful with the message of “never give up no matter how bad things may seem” and shows just what can be accomplished thanks to Bauby listening to the nurses and giving them trust and finds new hope along with finally coming to terms with his past mistakes. The film's cinematography is excellent which captivates key scenes with most it mostly consisting of Point of Views of Bauby with the vision of the Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński. The soundtrack fits the atmosphere of the film with it mainly consisting of calm French songs that give the film a weird sense of fading hope as the music is quite drowned out and has a constant old time static to it, but never the less it fits well with the film. I highly recommend this film as it has very powerful messages along with a fantastic atmosphere that makes it a very enjoyable yet sad film that really makes you think through the perspective of a paralyzed man and makes you think how you would be able to cope with such a horrible situation. Along with other things in the film that make it a sorrowful story, it's the ending that leaves the long lasting gut punch to the viewer especially if you keep up with the character and find out how he got in his awful position.