The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Movies Reviews NOTE: May Contain Spoilers !

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Kooky
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The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Post by Kooky » 19th Mar, '08, 22:11

I think it was uno that recommended the book on the forum a while back, and IMO it is a beautiful, moving (true) tale about a man with Locked-In Syndrome.

I bit the bullet one day and went to Cinema Europa all on my own to see if the movie did it justice.
Not going to attempt to write or paste in the synopsis, you can look here:

http://www.thedivingbellandthebutterfly-themovie.com/

It's a very poignant movie, beautifully shot and very well acted. I challenge you to leave the movie theatre without at least a lump in your throat.

In French, with subtitles

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Re: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Post by Blossom » 19th Mar, '08, 22:50

I loved this movie! I watched it by myself and regretted it as I loved it so much I really wanted to talk about it after. Could you imagine living like that????

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Re: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Post by Fuzz » 22nd Mar, '08, 19:33

Just watched this through a DVD that I bought in Indonesia -- knowing that this will be a sobering movie, I avoided watching it considering my current state of emotions. I watched it tonight anyway and was blown away. It makes me want to read the book and immerse myself in his thoughts and conjure my scenes based on Jean-Dominic Bauby's own words.

The movie's about Elle's former editor who had a stroke and ended up having a 'locked-in syndrome' (a fully functioning brain in a vegetative state body) - with only his right eye functioning normally.

I don't know if I have the same drive and patience to dictate a whole book through a series of blinks like what Bauby did. The movie reminds me of 'The Sea Inside' (Mar Adentro) which is one of my favourite movies. In Mar Adentro, there's a scene in the movie where Javier Bardem's character, who had quadriplegic, was chatting to the lawyer. He said something along the lines of him wishing to touch her but the distance between him and her hand - even though it was only a couple of centimetres - was a distance that was impossible for him. In 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly', there's a scene where Bauby received a call from his girlfriend -- and from the look in his eyes, we know that he wished he could reach the phone and talk to her ... and that it was also something too great a distance for him.

Truly, truly touching and a gem of a movie.

Rating: 4/5.

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