The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

Writing a book is quite a feat for anyone. Writing a book with only the use of one eyelid to communicate with is superhuman. Julian Schnabel’s film documents the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor of Elle magazine, as he is left with only the use of his left-eyelid after a stroke. Jean (Mathieu Amalric)'s subconscious acts as the darkly comic narrator, enjoying the ironies of his life with a dry wit, and Amalric manages to convincingly convey the heartbreak of Jean’s situation while anchoring it with humour.

The first 15 minutes of the film open with blurry and out of focus shots, from Jean’s perspective as he lies in his hospital bed, a man looking out at the world with no way of communicating; an isolated place, the diving bell of the title. We are in his head as he learns his predicament may be permanent and Jean naturally despairs, increasingly becoming bitter about his life. Soon after discovering a method to communicate with, by using his blinks to spell out words, he tells his overly enthusiastic speech therapist Henrietta (Marie-Josee Croze): "I want death".

A turning point in the Diving Bell comes when Jean is looking out to sea and in his mind states: "I decided to stop pitying myself. Other than my eye, two things aren't paralyzed. My imagination and my memory." It is a wonderful moment as we then follow a butterfly through events in his subconscious. With the help of former publishing contacts, Jean endeavours to write his book with an assistant Claude (Anne Cosigny) transcribing his blinks into the written word. Jean becomes the metaphorical butterfly, creating a new imaginative world out of the hospital surrounding he finds himself stuck in and exploring his old life, wherein there are issues to be resolved.

The film doesn’t paint Jean in his life before the stroke as the most likeable character and Schnabel deftly explores the relationships and past life in flashback, linking them to present day Jean. In past and present we see him in his role as a weekend father, learn about his complicated love affairs which continue into his paralysed state, and the relationship between him and his elderly immobile father Papinou (Max von Sydow), a former womaniser like Jean who finds himself in a comparable state of isolation to that of his son.

What is astonishing about the Diving Bell And The Butterfly is that it doesn’t dwell on either the sadness of or the hope in Jean’s story, not eliciting the easier audience reactions, but instead portrays the humour and enjoyment of Jean's life and presents a fully rounded protagonist. With inventive flowing camerawork, all-round wonderful performances, and a unique structure, which is only occasionally a minor disruption to the narrative, Julian Schnabel’s film is that most wonderful of things: an extraordinary story well told.