Review—The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
May 20th, 2008 by Nut
This was one of those movies you see at the rental store (I had a gift card) and it sounds familiar but you really don’t know what it’s about. But you see all those little symbols that say it’s been in some independent film festival or another (in this case, Cannes) and so you know it’s got to be at least decent. I mean, the cover doesn’t tell you much and the title—what the hell is that supposed to mean?
But someone in my group decided it would be worth a shot and so we rented it, no one bothered to read the back, and we went home.
I love these kind of surprises. Turns out it’s an incredible movie based on the true-life story of former Elle Magazine editor Jean Dominique Bauby. He had a massive stroke one day that left him completely paralyzed even though his mind was intact. So while he could think and imagine and understand what was going on around him, all he could do was blink one eye. It’s called locked-in syndrome and it’s a real, horrible condition.
One of my favorite parts of this movie is the way it’s shot. The story is really good but without some of the creative tricks going on behind the camera, it wouldn’t unfold as well. The opening scene, for example, is kind of annoying and blurry until you realize that you’re experiencing what Bauby is experiencing. That’s why Memento was such a great movie (it was also based on a short story, FYI).
The story is incredible, especially since I didn’t know it was a true one until the end. I won’t ruin it for those of you that want to read it, but what he does is amazing. This is a movie everyone should check out. I started watching some of the bonus features and those were cool, but don’t watch the Charlie Rose interview with the director — the dude is a pompous ass.
In all, this was a nice surprise. None of us knew what the movie was about, but we all had a decent vibe about it. I even cracked a joke as the opening credits started to roll about how sometimes you wind up finding your favorite movies this way. In this case, it was true.
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