Review of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) by Chads. — 07 Feb 2008
A blow-by-blow account of cognitive activity from the abyss; that's the unprecedented achievement of "The Diving Bell & the Butterfly", a film that somehow manages to be a spectacle of unconditional love while remaining intellectually rigorous.
If you're in need of a clue as to why beautiful women fawn all over Jean-Dominique Bauby(Mathieu Amalric), aside from being the former editor-in-chief of Elle; the camera, his eye(the other eye suffered a death by non-irrigation), provides the answer.
As Jean-Dominique's physician extols the cosmetic virtues of Henriette(Marie-Josee Croze) and Marie(Olatz Lopez Garmendia), the camera pans to an attending doctor, because Bauby knows women; even a professional woman wants to be thought of as pretty in his model-centric mind, and her exclusion from the doctor's pantheon of attractive medical professionals strikes him as callous and rude.
If Jean-Dominique's eye could talk, he'd reassure her with some kind words; something along the lines of, "You're no chopped liver, yourself, you lab-coated mademoiselle." Even though locked-in syndrome is a nightmare, Bauby fills his mindscape with images steeped in a learned man's knowledge of history, art, and dance.
Don't feel sorry for him. Laugh at him. Jean-Dominique gives you permission when he refers to his face as being dipped in formaldehyde. "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" isn't a love story, but it's a story about love.
Save your tears for Celine(Emmanuelle Seigner). Nobody loves Bauby more than her, but she's in competition with his mistress(Agathe de La Fontaine) and translator(Anne Consigny).
This review of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) was written by Chads. on 07 Feb 2008.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly has generally received very positive reviews.
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