Review of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) by Mandy D — 19 Jul 2009

You'd think it very hard to make a movie about a man writing a book whose only way of communicating is being able to blink with one eye and for athis reason for a long time I resisted seeing this movie. It was not until I was feeling crook and it came up on the RIalto channel that I finally gave myself the time to sit down and watch it and albeit it had to be in chunks because there were a number of people vying for the use of the television.

Perhaps that it was in chunks made it more impressive because I was able to handle it in small doses, the difficult framing, the repetitions of the French alphabet, the camera drifitn gin and out of focus. But to all intents and purposes if ever there was a movie about this topic this is how it had to be made. They have done a masterful job of capturing this man's perspective. You somehow get a sense of his condition and persepctive by the uncomfortable way that it is filmed. And at times there is real magic and beauty in this discomfort, showing that his imagination is as powerful and rich as ever. As a result of the way in which this is filmed the bits you treasure seems all the more poignant and worthwhile because it is a film you have to work to watch. As a result it is I think a brilliant piece of cinema if you are able to bear it. Hence I will give it five stars not out out of entertainment value but more due to cinematic masterpiece.