The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

I caught this film this weekend, and have to say it was an extremely refreshing approach to filmmaking. Based on the true story of Elle magazine's young former publisher who suffered a stroke and was completely paralyzed except for one eye, this movie captures what he went through... long story short, an amazing tale of human existence, if hard to watch.

In fact, at first I thought I couldn't watch it; it made me feel claustrophic and trapped. But after a time I settled in and tried to understand what I was seeing, which was the perspective of a man who had everything and woke one day to feel claustrophic and trapped, to a degree none of us has ever seen. And yet, in short order, a system was devised for him to communicate with his one eye, his only way to the outside world from a mind that was 100% intact (the worst irony of it all).

The director, an American, chose to do the movie in French; the real setting was France, and he wanted it to be as real as possible. The end result is a very slow paced, heart felt and powerful movie that made me feel like I'd never known challenges or had to be patient. If you like movies that shake up the way film is made, and if you can handle the uncomfortable feeling you get when watching tedious, painful situations where the frustration is palpable, then you're going to finish with a feeling of understanding about the human condition that makes you smile and weep at the same time.

Great flick.

Troy


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It's just a Great-Minding kind of week, eh?

Loved this as well, Troy.



You should rent Before Night Falls, Schnabels film about cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas. I had no idea who he was till I saw that movie. It was also the first time I saw Javier Bardem and was enthralled. I've been mowin' what Javier's been growin' ever since.