Review of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) by Tonypolito — 08 Nov 2010

Four Oscar nods, two Golden Globes, two Cesars, five other Cesar nods and a Best Director at Cannes. In French, subtitled.

A middle-aged man (Amalric) awakens from a stroke-induced coma to find himself paralyzed in all but his left eye. A solution is devised so his blinking is converted to words and so goes on to dictate the autobiography upon which this film is based.

The author shares his meditative observations of his own condition and of his own past life. His body weights him down as if in a old-style diving suit; his hope is that it is a chrysalis from which he will someday fly away.

The viewer spends much time hearing the author's mental conversation as well as seeing from his point of view - that being out of his left eye, effecting a higher sympathy. And there's much in the way of captivating dialogue and script.

The film's greatest strength is it makes plain a mind filled with wit, knowledge, humor, regret and suffering, relatively uncompromised by this condition. Such condition would typically cause many passers-by to assume the man a nonentity; indeed the film reminds many times such is so.

As a French film, it is not entirely surprising that, even under this incredible circumstance, there are several attractive love interests with which the protagonist must contend. The author shares his lust and fantasies for his gorgeous care-givers, which fascinates even moreso given the viewer knows he had to ask them to take its very dictatio toward the underlying novel. And, in one moving and thought-generating scene, Amalric's wife is forced to translate a phone call from his former mistress.

RECOMMENDATION: How the protagonist forged a life out of such circumstance, and how the director cleverly portrayed it, is fascinating stuff. Well recommended.