Customer Reviews
Clever and Original Film - By: L. Davidson, 17 Aug 2008 
"The Diving Bell & the Butterfly" is a gripping French film based on a true story about a renowned magazine editor,who after suffering a devastating stroke became paralysed,only able to communicate by blinking one of his eyes. The actingin the film is of a very high standard throughout as we watch the immobile Jean-Do face up to his life altering circumstances at first with despair but then with resignation & finally acceptance of his horrible fate. He is luckyin that he has the love of two women,his wife & mistress to keep him going , as well as his three children & several attentive speech therapists & helpers. Their support bolsters his spirits & enable him to "write" his memoirs & share his experiences of life as a victim of "locked in" syndrome with the world.The film is at times depressing & sad , but it is vital & original as well.
Not a patch on the book! - By: A. I. Mackenzie, 13 Aug 2008 
The book was extraordinary, both for how it was painstakingly written & the condition of JDB, but mostly because it was genuinely uplifting.
The film despite being beautifully shot & well played just can't compete, it keeps having to tell us things rather than show them & basically becomes a monologue. The imagery of the diving bell which worked to wellin the book falls apart when it's shown on screen - it rendered too plodding & literal. Essentially it's un-filmable.
Disappointing, stick with the book despite being a brave effort.
Funny, moving and beautifully shot - the best film of 2007! - By: E. McKiernan, 04 Jul 2008 
The book is so beautiful a piece of personal philosophy that I went to see the film with some trepidation, but if anything the film adds to the book by Bauby. The film is beautifully shot, funny & moving (but notin a sentimental way).
The director (who does not speak fluent French) chose to retain the original language of the book & this, I believe speaks volumesin a world of cinema where the digestability of a film by a mass audience is often classed as more important than retaining the soul of a piece of artistic cinema. The film was originally meant to be made by Pathe & star Jonny Depp - I think a tragedy was averted!
This film can be enjoyed (yes enjoyed - despite its theme it really isnt at all depressing) on so many levels - as a compelling human story, as an uplifting philosophy & as a work of art. You should not miss this film.
Touched by genius - By: Chuck E, 19 Jun 2008 Just when you started to feel that film had become little more than a merchandising exercise, along comes a release that reminds you what it can be. Reading The Diving Bell one could be forgiven for thinking it essentially unfilmable - so much is going on inside the head of the protagonist, there's little `action' not a great deal of dialogue, a slight plot... Yet, Schnabel's film is touched with genius & blessed with uniformly excellent performances, from the speech therapist down to the telephone engineers. Moreover, unlike other films dealing with disability, where the audience looks `at' the disability, here we look `from' - & there's a big difference. The decision to take the point of view from inside Bauby's head is inspired & completely transforms the relationship of the viewer to the subject. Technically & aesthetically it is a triumph - it's quite difficult to think how it could have been improved, even down to the soundtrack. Obviously, there's a depressing side to the tale of a man stricken by total paralysis(!), but the film stands as a testament to the remarkable resilience of the human spirit.
A must see film - a total gem - By: jrhartley, 30 May 2008 Can I just start by saying: this film is outstanding. It clearly benefits from the remarkableness of Jean-Dominique Bauby's book - the notion of a man with 'locked-in' syndrome being able to write such a poetic story about his experiences using only the blinking of his left-eye to signal the letters of the words is,in itself, awe-inspring. It would seem an almost impossible task to turn such a book into a film, but it has been done here with considerable skill.
The film adopts a highly phenomenological approach, using blurred shots, muffled sounds, metaphor clips, flashbacks, to tell the storyin a perfectly-timed & engaging fashion. Some of the frames, to my mind are incredibly powerfulin evoking all the senses - one that particularly sticksin my mind is the 15 second shot of his girlfriend's hair, shot from behind, flowingin the wind, full-frame, on the way down to Lourdes. Images like this keep reminding us of how little we appreciate until its lost.
This is an emotional film, it made me laugh & cry. The ensemble cast is outstanding, I don't think there was a dud line, a dud shot or a beat-missedin the whole film. I can't wait for this to come out on DVD & I shall now be rushing off to read the original text. When I finished watching "The Diving Bell & the Buttefly" I thought that it was the best film I'd seen since "The Lives of Others". The more I reflect on it, I think its actually better. Don't miss this gem!
