If a nearly two hour film about a completely paralyzed man viewed through the eyes of said paralyzed man sounds good to you then congratulations; you just picked out one of the most astonishing films of 2007. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly tells the true story of the French “Elle” editor-in-chief who was suddenly hit with a massive stroke leaving him completely paralyzed, that is everything but one blinking eye. Played by Mathieu Amalric, this is the story of Jean-Dominique Bauby and how he managed to live out his life, despite not being able to move a muscle.
I went into this film without an ounce of knowledge as to what it was about. Sure, I had added the information to the database along with the pictures, the cast, the director and the trailer, but I paid absolutely no attention to it when I did. The film begins in a foggy haze as we are Dominique Bauby’s eyes, waking from a 20-day coma. We hear Bauby’s inner-dialogue, but soon realize no one other than us can hear what he is saying. Soon they must sew up his right eye to prevent any kind of major infection. Left only with one eye he begins work with speech therapist Henriette Durand (Marie-Josee Croze) on a newly structured alphabet as a means of speaking. Henriette reads each letter off slowly and Bauby blinks once she reaches the correct one. Think how your cell phone completes words for you while you are texting, the two soon become that good.
As the story moves along we are introduced to a variety of people from Bauby’s life including flashbacks to when he could walk and talk. We meet his ex-wife, his kids, his friends, his lover and his father played superbly by Max von Sydow who manages to channel all his inner emotion for a fantastic phone-call that is anything but one-sided despite Bauby’s distinct inability to speak.
Together with Henriette, Jean-Dominique begins work on a book he owes his publisher, but was not asked to complete, and the story continues down a dramatic path that is just as tragic as it is inspiring. As you watch you will become so attached to the man that is Jean-Dominique Bauby, that spending time with him in his own personal prison is oddly one of the most comfortable places in the film. Plenty of credit goes to both director Julian Schnabel and Amalric for making this a reality, these two men brought to life a man that most would look at as a lost cause and even in his most vulnerable state made him strong.
A moment that remains in my memory involves two men delivering a phone to Bauby’s room. Without a nurse around they don’t know what to do because Bauby can’t speak of course. Henriette returns and tells them what to do and as they install the phone they ask how he is going to talk to anyone and one of them supposes, “Maybe he is a heavy breather.” Henriette becomes enraged and throws them out of the room while we hear Bauby’s voice-over laughing at the joke and saying how Henriette needs a sense of humor. This is the man you will soon come to admire, and enjoy getting to know.
