The diving bell and the butterfly - film review
This is a review of the film “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”, released in UK cinemas Feb 2007. It was screened at The Duke of Yorks Brighton.
Imagine you are paralysed, totally unable to move or speak - you can’t swat a fly that lands on your nose, you can’t turn change the dull channel on the television, you can’t touch your partner, you can’t do a thing.
That is the position French writer and editor of Elle magazine, Jean-Dominique Bauby found himself in when he suffered a stroke aged 43. Despite this, by communicating through blinking, he was able to write a novel about his experience and his life which was published in 1997.
This film is a companion piece to the book, and is presented almost as a patchwork or scrapbook, a combination of experiences we view through Jean’s eyes as he is attempting to survive in the hospital, memory’s of the life he had before, and flights of fancy as he imagines surreal scenes and fantasy moments.
The soundtrack to the film is fantastic, including tracks from U2, Tom Waits and Joe Strummer. The music only ever appears as Jean experiences memories of his former life, which are also shot in intense colours, and these serve to make those sections much more intense and moving.
Here we experience Jean exercising his imagination a little.
In contrast, other parts of the film seem very claustrophobic, as well as being trapped in his body, much of the film is set within the walls of the hospital he finds himself in. Here is one moment where Jean leaves the hospital to go to the beach with his children. It’s very moving, as his kids realise what has happened to him and what this really means for them.
By shooting much of the film from the first person perspective of Jean it is easy to feel as if we are also paralysed, and this helps to make the experience incredibly involving and realistic. As well as the fact that this could happen to anyone, I personally felt a great empathy with the character and this made the experience of watching the film even more thought provoking.
If you watch the discussion below with the director you will notice that this is in fact an partly American film, with an American director and French actors. The script was indeed originally in English, which was later translated. Its perhaps for this reason that the film seems neither too melodramatic and typically arty French, nor too often over sentimental American. It transcends the stereotypes, which is no mean feat, given the subject matter, and the way most would treat this.
Another interesting fact is that this only the 55 year old director Julian Schnabel’s third film, his first was released in 1996. Before this he was primarily an artist, with works having been in the MET and in Paris. He also painted the cover and enclosed artwork of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers album ‘By the way’, and his daughter used to date their lead guitarist John Frusciante. This would certainly explain the more artistic elements of the film, the bold imagery and colours were central to the look of the film, and in emphasising the story.
In summary - a visual treat, highly involving, with a strong message of living in the present, which could be potentially life changing if you have any big decisions to make when you watch it!
Trailer
Interview with the director Julian Schnabel
More about the film
The official website is typically flash and noisy, and comes with a rather unusual blog inviting people to leave comments on how the film affected them. There are only a few though, and its no longer linked to on the main site.
Better value if you’ve seen the film is the fact you can download an hour long interview with the director from iTunes, which is in the form of a video podcast.