Theatrical Review of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

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When "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" opens, we are thrust into the world of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a previously healthy and virile Frenchman who has suffered a stroke. The stroke leaves him with control over only one body part: his left eye. With this limited resource, the former editor of "Elle" magazine tries to start his life anew, using his eye to talk to people through a series of blinks and, ultimately, to dictate a book.

There is a stylistic choice made by director Julian Schabel from the very first frame of film: whether in first person or third, everything the camera sees is distorted as if the audience is watching the action through a degrading human eye. As the screen becomes blurry and goes dark several times in a row, it is obvious Jean-Do is fighting back tears. And when shapes and colors begin to blend together, forming little more than bright shadows at the end of the film, we understand the only link to the outside world for Jean-Do is failing him. Coupled with those techniques is almost exclusive use of steady cam, again mimicking the motions of a real human eye.

It´s these things--the attention to detail--which makes "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" a heartbreaking yet ultimately rewarding experience. Forget for a moment this is a movie; instead, keep the fact this is a true story ever omnipresent in your consciousness. For a man accustomed to doing what he wanted when he wanted with little regard for anyone else to be reduced to having his son wipe drool off his face, a cruel irony Bauby notes in his internal narration, is crushing, humiliating, even degrading.

How does an independent man come to rely on everyone around him for all his basic needs? As the film--and presumably the novel on which it is based--would have us believe, it is through the kindness of the those around him. The nurses who treat him as a human being with thoughts and feelings. The frequent visits by his wife, children and friends which bolster his soul to keep fighting. And the need to reinvent himself, to be productive, to make one last mark on the world.

Even though the narrative never spells this out for the audience, the idea is implied every time we see through Jean-Do´s good eye. His doctors remind visitors to stay in his line of sight, hardly a difficult thing since he can´t move his head. We see as he sees and, ultimately, come to think as he thinks. It´s somewhat of a conceit that the audience is only confined to the first person view for portions of the film while Bauby lived like this. It diminishes the impact of the camera choice to some extent; after all, to accurately tell the story of a man in prison, one must stay in the prison with him, longing for the outside. That turns out to be the only potential negative in "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"--the way we are given a "Get Out of Jail Freee" card, so to speak, whenever the narrative wants us out. We still feel for Bauby and the situation, just to a lesser degree than we would otherwise.

This is a classic disability story we´ve seen literally hundreds of times in film, television and print. The key difference, though, is the struggle. Normally, the battle is against the elements or another person; here, it is an internal struggle to not give up, not be pity himself. At least initially, Bauby wants to die, to throw in the towel. We never get to the root cause of what changes his mind. Maybe it´s seeing his children or realizing there are many things he has yet to do. Could it be the way his father continues to fight himself despite being trapped in his own apartment? Or is it his speech coach, a beautiful woman Bauby continually thinks about sexually, who never gives up on him even though he gives up on himself?

Whatever the eventual answer could have been, it would have been a disservice claiming it to be the only one. There were undoubtedly many factors at work propelling Jean-Do. But this isn´t a simple tale of winning the race or accomplishing a goal; no, Bauby made plans before his death to dictate another book using his eye. Watching the effort and work going into each letter--a series of letters would be spoken aloud until Bauby blinks once for signal his approval--is a minor miracle. Who has the patience to ask for water or indicate you´re tired when each letter takes thirty seconds to translate? The fact Bauby didn´t give up was remarkable enough; writing a book without the benefit of speech or writing is altogether extraordinary.

Subplots run through "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"-a friend who was taken hostage in Beruit for four years because he took Jean-Do´s seat, another friend who brings a winter hat Jean-Do is initially ashamed of wearing, a mistress and, perhaps most touching, two scenes with his father (played ably by Max von Sydow). Those two scenes are among the most powerful in the film. In a flashback, Jean-Do shaves his father´s face before running off on another adventure. He never quite understands what it is like to be at someone else´s mercy, to be trapped in a place. Yet by the second scene, both father and son are in the same place. It is altogether too much to bear for Papinou (von Sydow), knowing the anguish his son is going through.

Each time we flashback with Jean-Do to a time before his stroke, the mistakes of his life are fleshed out. In hindsight, vision is 20/20, a lesson he learns quite early. But it is the only escape he has, the imagination. Go back and relive happier times. Put himself in different situations, different time periods. To be stuck with ones thoughts as a healthy, able-bodied individual can be depressing. Not having an outlet for them is maddening.

Special consideration has to be given to Mathieu Amalric, who is caught in the most exhilarating and profoundly troublesome role an actor can find himself in. He is given no tools with which to act, except his eye. He´s not allowed to emote, move his hands, hurl a vase across the room or hug his children. Amalric sits, drools, blinks and repeats. It´s close to impossible to create a three dimensional person with those limitations, yet Jean-Do is never anything else.

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," a French film with English subtitles, is a quiet endeavor. Even when characters get angry, they internalize the emotion instead of letting it spew out. There´s nothing fun about this nearly two hour experience. Every step forward requires brute force to accomplish. Poignant, beautifully shot and inspirational without turning to melodrama, it rates a 7 out of 10.

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