Based on true events, it tells the story of Jean Dominique Bauby, the editor of French Elle magazine who at 42, suffers a massive stroke and leaves him with 'Locked In Syndrome'. Bauby, fondly known as Jean-Do to those around him has a mind and memory perfectly in tact, yet is paralysed from head to toe. He communicates via via a complicated but effective system - someone reads out the alphabet (letters are read in the order of most to least frequently used) and Bauby blinks his left eye when the right letter is reached.
So, despite such a tragedy, Bauby decides to write a memoir via this communication system. He dicates his words to Claude Mendbill who meticulously puts his words and sentences to paper. Sadly Bauby died from Pneumonia a mere ten days after the book was published.
This film was recommended to me by several trustworthy sources, yet I had no idea how much it would not only move me, but draw me into Bauby's world. You get a real sense of the raw horror and disbelief you would feel if your world was turned upside down so completely. This is instantly identifiable from the first few scenes.
The film itself it beautiful, emotive and intelligently creative on a level that is rarely reached. The direction by Julian Schnabel and cast of Mathieu Almaric and Emmanuelle Seiger is stellar. I'm not surprised it won so many awards and has turned up on 'top ten' lists all over the world.
The Diving Bell and Butterfly makes you contemplate your morality. It makes you grateful for your health, and the health and vitality of those around you. It makes you realise that the life you have is probably not so bad. But most of all, I feel grateful for Bauby's spirit and determination in such devastating circumstances, to write his memior, and leave something to share with us all.
If you haven't seen this movie, you must. You really must. It will change the way you think, live and love. I'm off to buy Bauby's memoir as we speak.
For more info:
http://video.movies.go.com/thedivingbellandthebutterfly/main.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diving_Bell_and_the_Butterfly_%28film%29
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