Review of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) by Dave M — 10 Feb 2013

This is the most completely satisfying film I have ever seen. It is, at once, a horrifying, harrowing film, and an uplifting and heart-warming one as well. Captivating first-person cinematography rewrites the book on how to execute such a method of portrayal (you have to see the scene where J.D. Bauby's right eye is being sewn shut--you feel like it is your own eye), and the script is written with a wit and subtlety that is refreshing and impactful without going over the top; the cast is absolutely stunning (literally every one of them is beautiful in one way or another), and the screenplay makes jumps between time-periods clear and cohesive without detracting from the flow or style of the film.

Typically, great books make great movies, and the generally-accepted thinking is that the books are usually better than the movies made from them...this movie turns conventional thinking on its ear, and offers a sound rebuttal to that thinking with an authenticity that is difficult to challenge.