Review of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) by Connor _ — 19 Feb 2011
An emotionally tugging film about Elle editor and playboy Jean-Dominique Bauby (played in full by Mathieu Amalric)who is paralyzed by a stroke and limited to communication via blinking his left eye. First cynical, Amalric soon powers through having lost physically everything, even his right eye, and develops his imagination as an escape from reality while writing his autobiography with the help of "translator" Anne Consigny.
Director Julian Schnabel earns an Oscar nod for his biopic about struggle and triumph that defined a legendary man. First depicted in first person, seeing and hearing through Amalric. After that, we see Amalric himself portraying Bauby and going through his day-to-day struggles of simply living.
The star performance of the film is the heart-wrenching Max von Sydow as Amalric's home-bound father. The screenplay, with narration adapted from the autobiography, knows how to provoke emotion and gives Amalric, and often von Sydow too, complete control of our emotions.
A-.
This review of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) was written by Connor _ on 19 Feb 2011.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly has generally received very positive reviews.
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