The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | 
 enlarge | Director: Julian Schnabel
Actors: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-josee Croze, Anne Consigny, Patrick Chesnais
Studio: Miramax
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $17.59
You Save: $12.40 (41%)
New (44) Used (16) Collectible (2) from $10.78
Avg. Customer Rating:  56 reviews
Sales Rank: 739
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 112
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: 05596700
UPC: 786936750119
EAN: 0786936750119
ASIN: B00104QSOC
Theatrical Release Date: December 25, 2007
Release Date: April 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
From Miramax Films acclaimed director Julian Schnabel and the screenwriter of THE PIANIST comes a remarkable and inspiring true story about the awesome power of imagination. Experience the triumphant tale of renowned editor Jean-Dominique Bauby a man whose love of life and soaring vision shaped his will to achieve a life without boundaries. You'll soon discover why David Benby of "The New Yorker" calls THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY "nothing less than the rebirth of the cinema."System Requirements:Running Time: 112 minutes Language: English / Spanish / French Subtitles: English / French / SpanishFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/TRUE STORY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 786936750119 Manufacturer No: 05596700
Amazon.com
The seemingly claustrophobic story of a man imprisoned in his paralyzed body becomes a dazzling and expansive movie about love, imagination, and the will to live. After a stroke, Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric, Kings and Queen) can only move his left eye--and through that eye he learns to communicate, one letter at a time. With the help of his speech therapist (Marie-Josee Croze, Munich) and a stenographer (Anne Consigny, Anna M.), Bauby writes the stunning memoir The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. But such a plot summary makes the movie sound like lofty, self-important medicine--far from it. Director Julian Schnabel (Basquiat, Before Night Falls), working from an elegant screenplay by Ronald Harwood (The Pianist) and with an oustanding cast (which also includes Frantic's Emmanuelle Seigner as Bauby's neglected wife), has created a movie as engrossing and hypnotic as a thriller, a movie that wrestles with mortality yet has stubborn streaks of dark humor and eroticism, that portrays a man who overcomes unimaginable obstacles but refuses to paint him as a saint. Schnabel was once dismissed as a pompous and overblown painter, but he's crafted an intimate visual poem, a humble sonata about life at its most fragile. --Bret Fetzer
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| Customer Reviews: Read 51 more reviews...
 Diving Bell and Butterly September 30, 2008
The most striking element of the film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is most certainly the cinematography. The majority of the film is shot from the perspective of Jean-Dominique Bauby's eye. This creates some very interesting and dynamic shots. I found the first couple scenes particularly interesting. When the film begins, Mr. Bauby's eye slowly opens and looks around the room. The Camera is extremely out of focus and blurry. It immediately draws you deep into the film. As people begin to take notice of Mr. Bauby's awakening the shallow focus becomes more obvious. People's faces are blurry until they move as close as possible to the camera. As the film progresses, the depth of field progressively become deeper. As Mr. Bauby's vision becomes clearer, so do ours. The attention to realism and detail in the film is the most important part of it. The purpose of the attention to detail is clear; the film invites us to become fully immersed in the experience of Jean-Dominique.
Later in the film we are kicked out of Jean-Dominique Bauby's perspective rather abruptly. The cinematographer makes some really unique stylistic choices throughout the film. For example, the scene in which Mr. Bauby is driving in his convertible soon before his stroke, the camera moves often and abnormally. Sometimes the camera focuses upward at the sky and the tops of buildings from inside the car. While many different symbols and other things can be inferred from this stylistic choice, it at the very least sets the film apart from the norm.
As with any film, a combination of cinematography, directing, and editing make a film work or fail but "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly's" cinematography creates a unique and intriguing feel to the film that draws you in and never lets go, even when it kicks you out.
 The Diving Bell and The Butterfly September 10, 2008
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Some lines from the script that will give you a flavor of Jean-Dominique Baubly (Jean-Do) and the circumstance of his life.
I am a vegetable, lying in my bed unable to move. My whole body is encased in a kind of diving suit.
I have decided to stop pitying myself. Other than my eye, two things aren't paralyzed. My imagination. And my memory.
These are only two ways I can escape from my diving bell.
 Did not work for me September 9, 2008
While the story this film is based on is amazing, the movie itself was rather lukewarm. One would think a story of such caliber would be incredibly moving and inspiring, but somehow the movie failed to either move or inspire me. It struggled hopelessly to make us feel what the character feels, but for me it simply did not work. I could not relate to anyone in this film. I would still recommend it for people who love drama and French films, because it's by no means a bad movie. It just wasn't my cup of tea.
Sensitive film, extraordinary story August 20, 2008
Quite a feat to translate such a difficult story into film, and it works. This is a sensitive film of an extraordinary story at once a lesson in life and death, as well as poignant and inspirational - and handled without ever becoming cloying or maudlin.
Very moving August 20, 2008
Director Schnabel turned a most depressing subject into a beautiful story about will and compassion. The scenery is beautiful and the filming extraordinary. That the director is an artist and had a fear of dying adds to the deep undertones. No wonder it has received so many awards. Not recommended for small children.
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