The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

[Keepcoolbutcare]

from wiki...

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a translation of the French memoir Le scaphandre et le papillon by journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. It describes what his life is like after suffering a massive stroke that left him with a condition called locked-in syndrome.

The entire book was written by Bauby blinking his left eyelid. An amanuensis repeatedly recited a frequency-ordered alphabet, until Bauby blinked to choose the next letter. The book took about 200,000 blinks to write and each word took approximately two minutes. The book chronicles everyday events and what they are like for a person with locked-in syndrome. These events include playing at the beach with his family, getting a bath, and meeting visitors. The book was published on March 6, 1997. It received excellent reviews and sold 150,000 copies in the first week. Ten days after the French version of the book was published, Bauby died.

even though Cannes winner for best director Julian Schnabel insists he's a "painter first, filmmaker second"*, with all the kudos he's received for his latest, he might want to reassess that statement.

Official Site, where you can also find a trailer, though I'm fairly certain there's a high-def one over at Apple as well...and don't be turned off by that hokey "let your imagination set you free" tagline, some nice shots and solid music in that. I've liked what little I've seen of Mathieu Amalric (MUNICH, MARIE ANTIONETTE, w/ a roll in BOND 22 upcoming), and damn if it don't look pretty.

Much talk of a possible Oscar Nomination for Best Picture, Actor, Director, so this sucka's getting its own thread.

(fun quote about him and his film debut BASQUIAT, from critic Robert Hughes... "a movie about the worst painter of the 1980s, made by the second worst...")

[thomasgaffney]

Isn't there a review of this in Random Movie Reviews?

[Pacino86845]

Hehehe, the title to the film always sounded like one of those pretentious things like "The Flower That Drank the Moon"... it seems I had a chance to see this back in May, but I hadn't even noticed.

[Maui]

I really wanna see this.

It's getting recognition for best foreign film 2007.

Oh cool, same dude who did Basquiat!!!

[Keepcoolbutcare]

you know, I always took the expression "Locked-In" to be a positive thing. Maybe it's my athletic background (no j/k!), but I've only ever heard it and used it as another expression of being in "the Zone" (no, not here, though if one considers the amount of time one spends here...).

like "so-and-so is locked in" - so-and-so being Jordan or Kobe or LeBron in the 4th quarter, or some hitter who's just been tearing the cover off the ball over the course of the last couple games.

but after catching THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, well, that's all going to change (for me at least. I imagine most sports broadcasters will continue getting mileage out of the expression).

'cuz man oh man, when the film begins with the subjective perspective of poor 'ol Jean-Dominique Bauby, who's trapped, permanently, inside his body that is literally his cage, you may feel similarly inclined to drop that expression from your lexicon as well. It's in that beginning 1/3 of the film, a good 35-40minutes (I actually checked my cell-y to see the time when Schnabel opened up the perspective, so engrossed and enraptured was I by the technique) that Schnabel earned his directing prizes at Cannes and the Golden Globes.

The rest of the film, featuring evocative cinematography, wonderful performances from all the cast (oodles of French and French speaking cuties abound) and some clever, inspired use of the melding of memories, dreams and reflections that constitute Jean-Do's attempt to diffuse his soul crushing spiritual ennui, works quite well as well. Inspired sequences include the crumbling of a glacier (and its reversal, the re-formation of said glacier, at the very end of the film), the "Diving Bell" of the title (Bauby in a old-school scuba suit, slowly sinking into an ethereal ocean) and other inspired bits of reverie that I imagine are included in the novel that Bauby blinked out over the course of a year.

yeah...blinked out. Schnabel shows the grueling process a bit too much for my liking, but I guess he was trying to convey just how exasperating the process must've been by similarly inducing a sense of exasperation in the viewer. The process, basically involved an amanuensis listing the most common letters of the French language from 1st to last, and Bauby would blink whenever the correct letter for whichever word he was attempting to form came up in the sequence.

Mostly avoiding the sappy sentimentality one would expect of the enterprise, showing Jean-Do as not exactly a paragon of family values yet portraying the former ELLE editor as a uniquely fascinating man, the film could've used some editorial trimming, but it's humor, warmth and emotional honesty won me over something fierce.

ETA: where you at Dale T., you inveterate non-reviewing hussy you...

comparisons with the novel can be found over at the AV Club here.

[Ribbons]

Very nice review Keepcool.

Just out of curiosity, what's the "butterfly"?

Also, how would you rate Mathieu Almarac's performance? I've heard him getting some (maybe residual?) buzz along with the movie, but I imagine most of the acting is done in dream sequence/flashback stuff?

[Keepcoolbutcare]

Just out of curiosity, what's the "butterfly"?

his abundant imagination and/or heart/spirit...though I must confess, I flashed to Bart's line about imagination a couple times...

Damn TV! It ruined my imagination and my ability to umm, well uh....you know

Also, how would you rate Mathieu Almarac's performance? I've heard him getting some (maybe residual?) buzz along with the movie, but I imagine most of the acting is done in dream sequence/flashback stuff?

interesting. I mean, I wasn't kidding, you don't see him for the first 35minutes or so...the first glimpse we get of him is this really nifty homage to some damn film I can't quite recall, where he catches his blurry reflection off of some items as he's being wheeled down a hallway.

His V.O. work, even though I don't speak French so take this with a grain, is top notch - you sense his frustration, his sense of hopelessness, and then, when he's inspired, his snarky wit and robust sense of humor. He's able to laugh at himself, which, of course, if one is to not only thrive but survive with that condition, is a must.

The moments we see of him while he's locked-in, well let's just say he's able to convey a lot of emotion with just one eye (also, I couldn't help but flip the title of the Grindhouse classic THEY CALL HER ONE EYE to his predicament) and a severely droopy lip. And give it up for him getting naked, in the water no less (shrinkage!).

The flashbacks, surprisingly, are few, but he emotes what I imagine a lot of us imagine a cutting edge male fashionista (fashionisto?) to be like. It's the scenes with Von Sydow that really stand out, as both of them imbue the moment between them with layers of subtext, honesty, and real emotional truth.

[Ribbons]

Just out of curiosity, what's the "butterfly"?

his abundant imagination and/or heart/spirit...though I must confess, I flashed to Bart's line about imagination a couple times...

Damn TV! It ruined my imagination and my ability to umm, well uh....you know

At first I thought you were gonna go with "Nobody EVER suspects the butterfly!"

[Keepcoolbutcare]

At first I thought you were gonna go with "Nobody EVER suspects the butterfly!"

did I choke on a Venture Brothers quote, or is that from something else?

[Ribbons]

I wish I could find a video online, but basically in some episode of "The Simpsons," Bart says if he were ever reincarnated he'd want to come back as a butterfly, because "nobody ever suspects the butterfly."

[Leckomaniac]

I wish I could find a video online, but basically in some episode of "The Simpsons," Bart says if he were ever reincarnated he'd want to come back as a butterfly, because "nobody ever suspects the butterfly."

"It was the butterfly, I tell you! THE BUTTERFLY!!"

Classic Simpsons.

[DaleTremont]

Sorry my review has been so long coming. Sometimes you see a movie, and it's just like that scene in Spinal Tap when Nigel shows Marty his prized guitar. Don't touch it, don't point at it, don't even fucking look at it. It's that sacred. This is pretty much how I felt walking out the theatre after Children of Men, and it's definitely how I felt about The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.

But now that it's been some time, here's a brief ramble about what makes Diving Bell so damn good.

First off- Julian Schnabel. It takes a whole lotta courage to film the first 30 minutes of your story entirely from the perspective of your paralyzed protagonist, but Schnabel dared to go there. He successfully immerses us in the world of Jean-Do which, to begin with, only goes as far as his one eye will rotate around its socket. Ceiling. Feet. Walls. And whatever doctor or nurse will walk within his line of vision. Watching, one can't help but experience a keenly uncomfortable sense of claustrophobia. As the incongruously jolly doctor tells Jean-Do, his mug shoved up against the screen like an unwelcome intrusion, he is "locked-in." He retains every one of his mental faculties, but his body is a prison.

Mathieu Amalric is saddled with the difficult task of conveying his whole emotional journey- from confusion to frustration to rage to despair to resolve- all through voice-over, putting us as much into Jean-Do's mind as the camera work puts us into his body. It would have been easy to overdo it, but Amalric never does. He plays it heart wrenchingly close to the chest. This is in stark contrast to the people who surround him. We see their reactions to Jean-Do before we're able to see the man himself, a clever little way of building as much curiosity as suspense. When we finally do, our shock is in tandem with Jean-Do's, and it's truly horrific- the twisted, gaping mouth permanently frozen, his head torqued to the side.

However, I stress that Diving Bell is never morose. It doesn't treat illness and impending death with the woe-is-me sobriety of recent films (*cough Million Dollar Baby cough*). Schnabel looks at the world through swing-shift lensed glasses. With a sense of wonder made even sweeter by an ever-present sense of fatality. Jean-Do escapes to his memory and imagination to while away the hours, but he also grasps onto the present, to "what makes him human," whether that's being with his children or admiring one of his many nurses' cleavage. Jean-Do is never some disembodied voice we can't relate to; he's a man through and through (and oftentimes a very funny one at that- his wry observations of the people around him are one of the many unexpectedly hilarious moments that pepper the film.)

Wrapping up this ramble, I must give props to the supporting actors. I first discovered Marie Josee Croze in the Barbarian Invasions. In that film she brought a natural tenderness and earnestness to her role, and she is equally good here. Emanuelle Seigner is lovely as Jean-Do's ex-wife and mother to his children- we see her struggle to maintain a certain brave stoicism even while she's always within inches of losing her cool. And finally, there' s Max von Sydow as Jean-Do's father, called Papinou. He's my pick for Best Supporting Actor, even though I'm quite certain he'll be overlooked in favor of more outlandish characters that allow actors to showboat for the Academy. Nonetheless, Sydow is truly marvelous. A performance that is more about genuine emotion than a charismatic or quirky personality (a rarity in and of itself in these Depp-dominated days.)

In short, a beautiful and strangely haunting film that my silly little review hardly does justice to, so see it yourself!

[Maui]

Very nice review Dale.

I really want to see this flick - likely catch it this weekend.

[Maui]

In short, a beautiful and strangely haunting film that my silly little review hardly does justice to, so see it yourself!

This is how I feel too. Anything I would write about this movie would probably belittle it in some way and I really DON'T want to do that.

In short, this movie is brilliant. I was moved to tears several times. It's poetry on screen, it truly is.

I went to see Persepolis after seeing The Diving Bell and my heart was still aching.

The emotionally charged soundtrack: Tom Waits, U2, the piano solo that is continually played throughout the movie.

The cast: everyone was exceptional. Jean-Do, Celine, the therapists, the Dad!!! Max Von Sydow, though his screen time was minimal, it was tantamount.

One particular scene is very poetic and highly emotional - I'll just call it the glacier scene. It was too fitting to have the movie end the same way. The Father's Day beach scene - where Jean-Do is describing how his son has to wipe his saliva off his lip - another Waits moment. Maui lost it here too!

10 out of 10

[DaleTremont]

In short, a beautiful and strangely haunting film that my silly little review hardly does justice to, so see it yourself!

This is how I feel too. Anything I would write about this movie would probably belittle it in some way and I really DON'T want to do that.

In short, this movie is brilliant. I was moved to tears several times. It's poetry on screen, it truly is.

I went to see Persepolis after seeing The Diving Bell and my heart was still aching.

The emotionally charged soundtrack: Tom Waits, U2, the piano solo that is continually played throughout the movie.

The cast: everyone was exceptional. Jean-Do, Celine, the therapists, the Dad!!! Max Von Sydow, though his screen time was minimal, it was tantamount.

One particular scene is very poetic and highly emotional - I'll just call it the glacier scene. It was too fitting to have the movie end the same way. The Father's Day beach scene - where Jean-Do is describing how his son has to wipe his saliva off his lip - another Waits moment. Maui lost it here too!

10 out of 10

Word, Maus. Word. It is criminal to miss out on this one. Seriously Max Von Sydow owned this entire year with a total 20 minutes of screen time.

Quite frankly, comparatively it made Atonement look like a really well done episode of the Young and the Restless.

[Maui]

In short, a beautiful and strangely haunting film that my silly little review hardly does justice to, so see it yourself!

This is how I feel too. Anything I would write about this movie would probably belittle it in some way and I really DON'T want to do that.

In short, this movie is brilliant. I was moved to tears several times. It's poetry on screen, it truly is.

I went to see Persepolis after seeing The Diving Bell and my heart was still aching.

The emotionally charged soundtrack: Tom Waits, U2, the piano solo that is continually played throughout the movie.

The cast: everyone was exceptional. Jean-Do, Celine, the therapists, the Dad!!! Max Von Sydow, though his screen time was minimal, it was tantamount.

One particular scene is very poetic and highly emotional - I'll just call it the glacier scene. It was too fitting to have the movie end the same way. The Father's Day beach scene - where Jean-Do is describing how his son has to wipe his saliva off his lip - another Waits moment. Maui lost it here too!

10 out of 10

Word, Maus. Word. It is criminal to miss out on this one. Seriously Max Von Sydow owned this entire year with a total 20 minutes of screen time.

Quite frankly, comparatively it made Atonement look like a really well done episode of the Young and the Restless.

Yes, it certainly did.

You are right, it was brave of Schnabel to have the first 30 minutes from the perspective of Jean-Do's eye. It worked for me. I was sucked in. I found whenever the lens became clouded it was a very affective way to relay to the audience Jean-Do's emotions.

The scene with Celine when she had to dictate the telephone conversation between Jean-Do and his girlfriend was done brilliantly. It seemed to have the right amount of angst, understanding, jealousy and grief. This was all cleverly done.

You would think that you could not be able to translate any emotion from Jean-Do's character, after all, he is in a 'Locked-in' state. However, that one eye did an incredible performance, as did the droopy lip, the slow/fast breathing, the trembling motions of his head and upper torso.

When Papinou calls Jean-Do - a simply heartwrenching scene. You could see all the emotion Jean-Do felt just by looking at his face, his eye, how his body moved. That 20 minutes of Papinou is Oscar material, I agree.

I also feel that Schnabel rhythmically transitioned through each scene. Just when you felt your emotions could not stand anymore, the following scene would inject some humour or lighter content. A therapeutic scene transition for the audience. That is how I felt anyways. It gave me time to compose myself.

You are right - he doesn't pity himself for too long. Jean-Do does state - "This is my Life". He deals and copes with his thoughts, his humour and his great imagination. He became many things in his mind.

I ADORE THIS MOVIE!!!! A MUST SEE!

[DaleTremont]

I loved how a lot of the humor was generated from Jean-Do himself, and more particularly from the self-acknowledged absurdity of his condition. Example-

When his friend brings him the big furry hat and puts it on his head, Jean-Do grumbles, "Mais qu'est-ce que c'est que ca? What the heck is this? I'm going to look like a rabbit" (or something to that effect), and the next shot you see the furry hat poking down from the top of the screen. That cracked me up. It was little touches like that that really made the movie brilliant.

[Maui]

I loved how a lot of the humor was generated from Jean-Do himself, and more particularly from the self-acknowledged absurdity of his condition. Example-

When his friend brings him the big furry hat and puts it on his head, Jean-Do grumbles, "Mais qu'est-ce que c'est que ca? What the heck is this? I'm going to look like a rabbit" (or something to that effect), and the next shot you see the furry hat poking down from the top of the screen. That cracked me up. It was little touches like that that really made the movie brilliant.

Definitely. Another funny moment, when the telephone technicians come to Jean-Do's room to install the phone. "Why does he need a phone when he can't speak". The therapist gets rather upset but Jean-Do thinks she needs a sense of humour!

Not a 'Locked-in' humour scene but still funny - the flashing Virgin Mary lamp in the hotel room in Lourdes - tee hee!

[HollywoodBabylon]

In short, a beautiful and strangely haunting film that my silly little review hardly does justice to, so see it yourself!

This is how I feel too. Anything I would write about this movie would probably belittle it in some way and I really DON'T want to do that.

In short, this movie is brilliant. I was moved to tears several times. It's poetry on screen, it truly is.

I went to see Persepolis after seeing The Diving Bell and my heart was still aching.

The emotionally charged soundtrack: Tom Waits, U2, the piano solo that is continually played throughout the movie.

The cast: everyone was exceptional. Jean-Do, Celine, the therapists, the Dad!!! Max Von Sydow, though his screen time was minimal, it was tantamount.

One particular scene is very poetic and highly emotional - I'll just call it the glacier scene. It was too fitting to have the movie end the same way. The Father's Day beach scene - where Jean-Do is describing how his son has to wipe his saliva off his lip - another Waits moment. Maui lost it here too!

10 out of 10

Word, Maus. Word. It is criminal to miss out on this one. Seriously Max Von Sydow owned this entire year with a total 20 minutes of screen time.

Quite frankly, comparatively it made Atonement look like a really well done episode of the Young and the Restless.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie a lot. Sounds very good.

And,yes, Dale you're right about Atonement. I saw this over the New Year. Very pretty to look at and, oh, so very British in that costume-drama, upstairs-downstairs kind of way; it's the new English Patient which, of course, means the awards season will just love this thing to bits.
Keira Knightly was lightweight in every sense of the word, James McAvoy was OK but totally nondescript and the whole thing just screamed middle-brow, Merchant-Ivory all the way down the line. A harmless toad of a film, I thought and utterly forgettable. Sunday afternoon TV matinee stuff that you're elderly aunt or granny will like.

[DaleTremont]

And,yes, Dale you're right about Atonement. I saw this over the New Year. Very pretty to look at and, oh, so very British in that costume-drama, upstairs-downstairs kind of way; it's the new English Patient which, of course, means the awards season will just love this thing to bits.
Keira Knightly was lightweight in every sense of the word, James McAvoy was OK but totally nondescript and the whole thing just screamed middle-brow, Merchant-Ivory all the way down the line. A harmless toad of a film, I thought and utterly forgettable. Sunday afternoon TV matinee stuff that you're elderly aunt or granny will like.

Oh dear. I didn't mean to imply I have a venomous hatred of Atonement! Au contraire. I think it's a very good movie. Much better than Merchant-Ivory and more visually exciting than English Patient. But I'd be lying if I said my appreciation of it hadn't been dampened a bit by watching Diving Bell. I think the thing of it is, embracing the artificiality of a character's emotional penance by looking at an entire film through that glossy and ultimately superficial lens, well it necessarily makes any emotional resonance fall flat. Part of what made me like Atonement was the fact that, even as I was sobbing toward the end, I knew I was being manipulated by the story's creator- Briony. All that overwrought retelling was calculated to pull Briony/Joe Wright's audience in, to sucker us into being moved by what is finally, admittedly, a lie. Diving Bell, on the other hand, is all about truth. When you strip a man down to his barest form- his consciousness- what are you left with? And notice that all the characters who surround Jean-Do are revealed in ways they probably wouldn't have been had they not been confronted with this tragedy. In other words, there's no time to put on airs- the exact opposite of Atonement.

So basically- Young and the Restless comment- maybe a little harsh What I meant was, the fact that Atonement revels in its own artificiality still leaves one feeling rather...empty. In retrospect. Once Briony's very well-crafted lie had lost its sheen.

[Maui]

Can't get this movie out of my head!

I just remembered a scene where Jean-Do and Ines are embracing on the beach.




Oui oui?? First thing that came to my mind when they showed their sandy embrace at the ocean. I recollected the scene from the classic, "From Here to Eternity".

Anyone else? I'm looking at you Dale and KCBC!!!

[DaleTremont]

haha no for sure! They had a couple little nods to le cinema. Remember the part with Marlon Brando? That cracked me up. (And so French! To remark wittily in VO on some pop culture reference.) "Mais non c'est Marlon Brando!"

I have a feeling there were more but I can't conjure any right now.

One of the most striking images was to see Jean Do sitting on that rickety pier in his wheelchair extending into the ocean, water crashing around him. Notice there was actually a fairly prodigious use of water in the film. The aforementioned scene, the glaciers crashing into the ocean, him being floated around by the nurse in the pool. I'm sure there is much symbolism there but it's too early in the morning to delve into that shit

[Maui]

haha no for sure! They had a couple little nods to le cinema. Remember the part with Marlon Brando? That cracked me up. (And so French! To remark wittily in VO on some pop culture reference.) "Mais non c'est Marlon Brando!"

I have a feeling there were more but I can't conjure any right now.

One of the most striking images was to see Jean Do sitting on that rickety pier in his wheelchair extending into the ocean, water crashing around him. Notice there was actually a fairly prodigious use of water in the film. The aforementioned scene, the glaciers crashing into the ocean, him being floated around by the nurse in the pool. I'm sure there is much symbolism there but it's too early in the morning to delve into that shit

Yeah, the Marlon Brando stuff was amusing and yeah, it is too early. I haven't even finished my latte yet.

Water is continually changing shape and recreating itself. In many countries water has a religious healing purpose.

How's that for a start???

[DaleTremont]

Not too bad, not too bad at all.

Hmm...water, and esp. the ocean, can represent eternity...thus a good setting for a contemplation on the passing on to death from life. Also when I was studying in France we read a book called Pierre et Jean that was set by the sea. My teacher was convinced that the author intended "la mer" (the sea) to be representative of "la mere" (the mother.) I was skeptical

But there's more food for thought!

[Maui]

Not too bad, not too bad at all.

Hmm...water, and esp. the ocean, can represent eternity...thus a good setting for a contemplation on the passing on to death from life. Also when I was studying in France we read a book called Pierre et Jean that was set by the sea. My teacher was convinced that the author intended "la mer" (the sea) to be representative of "la mere" (the mother.) I was skeptical

But there's more food for thought!

I read a book in school about Pierre and Jean too! This is all I can remember:

Pierre, Jean, vous la tele regardez vous deux? hee hee

Re. "la mere". Well it could work. Water is a symbol of fertility.

[DaleTremont]

Also in that Renoir film Partie de Campagne the opening and ending shots are both of flowing water, representing the transience of nature? Water is hella versatile!

[Maui]

Also in that Renoir film Partie de Campagne the opening and ending shots are both of flowing water, representing the transience of nature? Water is hella versatile!

I've never seen this. Any good?



Maui drinks 8 glasses of water a day, do you?

[DaleTremont]

Quite good, yes. Short, sweet, poetic. Worth checking out for sure.

I drink 8 glasses of coffee a day. Does that count?

[Maui]

Quite good, yes. Short, sweet, poetic. Worth checking out for sure.

I drink 8 glasses of coffee a day. Does that count?

NO! But I'll give you props as you have the same fur hat as Jean-Do.

Here's a pic btw, reminiscent of "From Here to Eternity".

[Keepcoolbutcare]

feh, that FROM HERE TO ETERNITY reference was far too obvious for the likes of me to mention...

as for water, um, "La Mer", anyone? Only opened the film and all...

jeez, I take 'em easy (and when that doesn't work, sleazy) but ya'll two are suckin' each other's clits for some rank amateur filmic analysis.

AMATEURS!



good stuff ladies, movie was definitely heavy on the symbolism.

now if someone can my dumb ass of just what film Schnabel lifted that shot of Jean-Do getting wheeled down the corridor, when he first sees himself, that would be appreciated.

oh, and I think that shot of Jean-Do on the pier comes from something else as well - at least it struck me as being familiar.

[Maui]

feh, that FROM HERE TO ETERNITY reference was far too obvious for the likes of me to mention...

as for water, um, "La Mer", anyone? Only opened the film and all...

jeez, I take 'em easy (and when that doesn't work, sleazy) but ya'll two are suckin' each other's clits for some rank amateur filmic analysis.

AMATEURS!



good stuff ladies, movie was definitely heavy on the symbolism.

now if someone can my dumb ass of just what film Schnabel lifted that shot of Jean-Do getting wheeled down the corridor, when he first sees himself, that would be appreciated.

oh, and I think that shot of Jean-Do on the pier comes from something else as well - at least it struck me as being familiar.

Yeah it was obvious - but I thought I'd just mention it anyways.

Smarta**. Next time I'll play more Aldo Nova in my car!!!!

[DaleTremont]

jeez, I take 'em easy (and when that doesn't work, sleazy) but ya'll two are suckin' each other's clits for some rank amateur filmic analysis.

Is that what I was doing? Jeez I'm sorry Maus, I got so caught up in Diving Bell I didn't even notice my face was buried in your vagina.

now if someone can my dumb ass of just what film Schnabel lifted that shot of Jean-Do getting wheeled down the corridor, when he first sees himself, that would be appreciated.

oh, and I think that shot of Jean-Do on the pier comes from something else as well - at least it struck me as being familiar.

I don't know that the corridor scene was from anything, but I think you're right about that pier shot. I can't place it either though...

Uhh...Les Invasions Barbares stumbling into a Winslow Homer? Sheet...I know Schnabel's mind like the back of my hand.

[Keepcoolbutcare]

Is that what I was doing? Jeez I'm sorry Maus, I got so caught up in Diving Bell I didn't even notice my face was buried in your vagina.

that's hot.

it's been ages since I've seen it, but that corridor shot may be lifted, or an outright homage, to a scene in Frankenheimer's SECONDS.

at least that's what keeps coming up whenever I think about it.

[stereosforgeeks]

jeez, I take 'em easy (and when that doesn't work, sleazy) but ya'll two are suckin' each other's clits for some rank amateur filmic analysis.

Is that what I was doing? Jeez I'm sorry Maus, I got so caught up in Diving Bell I didn't even notice my face was buried in your vagina.

I haven't got a chance to see this yet, but damn if you ladies haven't perked my interest.

[Maui]

Is that what I was doing? Jeez I'm sorry Maus, I got so caught up in Diving Bell I didn't even notice my face was buried in your vagina.

that's hot.

it's been ages since I've seen it, but that corridor shot may be lifted, or an outright homage, to a scene in Frankenheimer's SECONDS.

at least that's what keeps coming up whenever I think about it.

hahahahahahahah

What about the scene where Ines is in the convertible and they just show the back of her long hair blowing in the wind. I swear I've seen that before. Tres cool scene!!!

[LeFlambeur]

I finally got to see this the other day. Good stuff.

Given the inert nature of the subject, the idea of creating a film about a man suffering from locked in syndrome doesn't sound like an especially cinematic one at first. But Schnabel proves this isn't the case, not simply because of his hyperactive visuals, but primarily because of the ingenious decision to begin the film from the first person perspective of Bauby as he first awakens with the new condition. When the film begins, Bauby's only means of understanding what is happening, is through his vision, and his mind, making his perception little different from that of the audience. I know it sounds trite to talk of "subjective" cinema, but the Diving Bell is a subjective work, perhaps necessarily so. When the film later begins departing from this POV approach, it feels wholly appropriate, as he more becomes aware of himself physically, so do we. It is a testament to the film's approach that the character's various imaginings and flashbacks never felt out of place either.

The offbeat camera angles Schnabel utilizes in some of Bauby’s memories and imaginings, isn’t the non-discernment of a dilettante, but a conscious technique utilized to evoke the changed understanding of a man becoming used to being planted at awkward angles, and forced to see the world differently. I personally enjoyed Schnabel's, fancifully impressionist, causally avant-garde approach, (someone's been studying their Brakhage), even if it sometimes felt a bit sloppy. The film's various metaphors never really attain the kind of profundity that Schnabel wants them to but since they are well grounded by the main character’s sense of humor, and fit well into the film’s approach, you never really mind.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

[HollywoodBabylon]

After the very excellent There Will Be Blood I hop-footed the other night to grab this movie and though I found it to be the complete opposite to Anderson's full-on throttle of a film it is - in it's own quiet and unassuming way - just as impressive and noteworthy; plus it contains a performance of such distinction (Mathieu Amalric) that I found it quite wonderful to be able to watch and compare the power of two wholly contrasting acting turns (Day Lewis being the other of course) in the space of a couple of weeks. Infact, I'd regard Amalric's performance as the Yin to Day Lewis's Yan; both full of intensity and bravaura even though one was as minimalist as you could ever see and the other a cauldron of emotion and red-hot brimstone. Inspiring stuff.

What personally made this film for me was Schnabel's eloquent and almost suggestive approach to the story. It was unencumbered by self-pity or bathos. Yes, what happened to Bauby was almost beyond awful, beyond terrible. It was a wholesale catastrophe on a physical and psychological level. Sudden, merciless and irreversible. But rather than consume it all in a layer of grandiosity or affectation Schnabel - wisely I thought - imbued it instead with a real yet dreamlike quality mixed in with a healthy dose of tragi-comedy. That, for me, was the key to the movie's success; he told Bauby's story as it should be told ie. contrasting his awful outer existence with a heightened approach to his inner existence by allowing the life-affirming perspective of that inner world to shine through; in other words, letting that inner consciousness roam effortlessly between the world of the real and the world of his imagination. I thought it was like watching those descriptions you read about when someone is drowning. After the initial terrifying struggle comes the calm almost benign acceptance of what has happenend and what is to be. And though, yes, of course, I felt great pity for his terrible predicament I also felt great inspiration, too; inspiration in how sometimes the individual spirit can overcome the most terrible adversity, how someone can rise above the most dire of circumstances to the point where they can set themselves free from it - even if the only way of expressing that freedom to the outside world is through the blink of an eye.

Definitely worth watching.

[Pacino86845]

Awesome, visually-splendid film!

I'm gonna keep blabbing that only two (one?) degrees separate me from Mathieu Amalric, and what a tour-de-force performance by Michael Wincott!!!

[DaleTremont]

Awesome, visually-splendid film!

I'm gonna keep blabbing that only two (one?) degrees separate me from Mathieu Amalric, and what a tour-de-force performance by Michael Wincott!!!

Glad to hear you liked it, Pacino! What is this connection you have to Mathieu Amalric? Or is it top-secret?

[Pacino86845]

Ha, it's no secret, I think I mentioned around here a few times already. An actor friend of mine worked with him a bit, some kind of apprenticeship (I forget the details now), she even got to party with the dude! Told me he's an extremely friendly and eccentric person, heheheh.

[Jesus Christ]

Has anyone here seen Kings and Queen? With Mathieu Amalric's killer breakdancing scene.