On DVD: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Directed by Julian Schnabel

Starring Mathieu Amalric, Anne Consigny, Marie-Josee Croze 

When I heard that someone was going to adapt Jean-Dominque Bauby’s free wheeling and hallucinatory memoir, the first director that came to mind to handle the complex task was Julian Schanbel. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly will be released on DVD on Tuesday April 29^th, 2008 by Miramax. 

The Movie 

In 1995, Jean-Dominque Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) was a carefree, no worries type of fellow enjoying his life of women, family, friends. He was the successful editor of French Elle magazine. Until one day, he suffers a debilitating stroke.

The stroke leaves him completely unable to communicate in any way or move. Doctor’s call this syndrome being “locked in”. What that means essentially is that while Bauby has a very active mind, he is trapped in a body that can not communicate nor move in any way. Bauby retained his memories, he has thoughts and feelings. He simply cannot communicate anything to the outside world.

However, Bauby does not let this stop him. With the help of a therapist (Marie-Josee Croze) assigned to help him, he learned to communicate by blinking his eyes. Using a restructured alphabet only containing the most commonly used letters, friends and family would say aloud the letter and Bauby would blink when they said the letter he needed to spell a word.

Soon, Bauby is no longer a prisoner to his thoughts and emotions. He can communicate them and develops the desire to write a memoir of his experiences. He retains an assistant (Anne Consigny) and beings the arduous task of dictating a memoir, one letter at time. He feels compelled to share with those close to him and the world what it is like to be “locked in” and wants to share the strange and wonderful daydreams that help him survive and escape his everyday world.

The daydreams and hallucinations become the intoxicating center of this unusual film. The term “Diving Bell” is used by Bauby because he often feels that his situation is very much like being trapped underwater, unable to move and escape. The term “butterfly” is used because of the discovery of the new reformed alphabet and his ability to communicate words through blinking is akin to when a cocoon opens and a beautiful butterfly emerges, no longer trapped inside a silken prison.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is an exquisite cinematic experience. If you prefer your cinema to be very cut and dried, straightforward, predictable beginning, middle and end, leave this film on the shelf. But, if you are adventurous and want a one of a kind experience, pick up this film immediately and do not hesitate.

The cinematography is by Janusz Kaminski, a frequent Speilberg director of photography. To describe it simply as mind blowingly beautiful does not do it justice.

The performances by all are brave, compelling and first rate. While the pacing may be a bit glacial for some, I enjoyed the slow pace of the film. Considering Bauby’s condition, the pace compliments the story and his situation perfectly.

Bauby died just two days later of pneumonia after the publication of his book in 1997.  He is buried in a family grave at the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France. It would have been so interesting to know what he would have thought about the film.

Lives like that of Jean-Dominque Bauby are rare and so are films like The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Do yourself a favor and catch this on DVD. You won’t soon forget it.

8.5/10

The Video

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is presented in anamorphic widescreen. It looks fantastic, vibrant and eye popping. I did not notice any instances of grain or artifacts.

8.5/10

The Audio

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is presented in the original French language in Dolby Digital 5. 1 with English and Spanish dubbed tracks available as well. All three languages also have subtitles. The wondrous sound mix is well preserved here.

8/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

The DVD comes in a standard amaray case with a cardboard slipcover featuring understated artwork that suits the film well.

A plethora of bonus features await your discovery on this release. There is a director’s commentary with Julian Schanbel. It is an interesting listen, albeit non-traditional, which should be expected given the flair of the director and his films.

The Making of the Diving Bell and the Butterfly is offered. It discusses the shoot at the actual hospital, how the actors prepared and various artistic choices the director and cast and crew made.

Next up is A Cinematic Vision. It is an exploration of the film with Schanbel and Kaminiki discussing their motivations and techniques in creating the unusual film and what role the editor played in the final film.

Julian Schabel on Charlie Rose is a great bonus feature. While Schanbel is interesting albeit a bit vague, he is quite a different subject when being questioned and Mr. Rose has a very focused and interesting conversation with him on his show and it is a great inclusion.

The trailer for the film and the trailer for the upcoming Prince Caspian rounds out the offerings.

8/10  

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

The Review

The Movie 8.5/10

The Video 8.5/10

The Audio 8/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 8/10

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

Suzie Lackey