The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

I know I've been writing about more movies than music this week, and I apologize for that. I will try to write more music-related stuff over the next week. But one last film-related post for the week: last night I saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which I believe comes out today. It's a French film based on the memoirs of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor of Elle magazine, who was paralyzed from head to toe after a stroke. He wrote the entire memoir by blinking with one eyelid to a girl who took his dictation. That's pretty amazing if you ask me.

The only problem with making a movie about a man who is paralyzed from head to toe is that not much happens. There are flashbacks to earlier in his life and symbolic imagery from inside his mind, but most of the film is shown from his point of view and therefore the scope of the film is very limited. At times, the film was - not gonna lie - quite boring. My friend actually fell asleep. But to some extent, I think that was the point: not to to get us to fall asleep but to get us to relate to him and give us a very small glimpse into how trapped he felt.

At other times, the film was filled with beautiful imagery. And there were actually quite a few funny moments, particularly with the characters' inner monologue in which we hear his thoughts and reactions to what is going on around him that he has no control over. There were also humorous or funny moments involving the people who come to visit him, who aren't quite sure how to act or what to say. It's good to know that Bauby could still find humor in life after facing such tragedy. Granted, he actually had it a lot better off than most people with "locked-in syndrome" probably would've - he was in a nice hospital on the ocean and surrounded by beautiful women at almost all times. I'd say he is luckier than most facing his predicament. But nonetheless, I would definitely not want to be in his shoes.

Overall, I would say the film is worth seeing. I don't think it's something I would watch more than once, but at the very least it is different from most of what is out right now and that is refreshing.

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