Diving Bell And The Butterfly

After a night of emotionally draining films on New Year's Day, it was a tall order to keep up a streak of cinematic excellence in the films I planned to see the following day. This journey began with a more agreeable outdoor temperature and a train ride rather than a walk. It also involved a more commercial theater in a cleverly designed mall. Still as in the previous night, I wasn't going to pass up the opportunities that Chicago provided. And eagerness exuded from me as I sat on the "El" waiting for my stop that would lead me to my next cinematic treat.

Diving Bell And The Butterfly is based on the quite remarkable true story of Jean Dominique Bauby (Matthieu Almaric), a French editor of "Elle" who suffered a stroke which resulted in "locked in" syndrome. This is a rare condition in which the sufferer's mind is fully intact but they lose complete control of any motor skills. Bauby specifically could do little more than blink his left eye. Based on Bauby's memoir which was written by means of a Herculean effort of him blinking out ever letter of every word by means of a specially arranged alphabet, the story reflects on Bauby's life after his accident and the amazing power of the human imagination.

The Diving Bell of the title is how Bauby conceives of his new life trapped in his own body while the Butterfly represents his ability to escape via his imagination. The film has an incredible amount of artistic style. A large part of the film is represented through the lens of Bauby. The POV of Bauby through one eye and limited head motion is surprisingly powerful. One particular dreadful moment in which Bauby's right eye is sewn closed and he is unable to communicate is very emotional.

The movie tries to recreate the emotional power of the memoir (which I have read, shocking!). At times this does this very well and at times falls short of the power of words in the book. Notably the significance of his relationship with his wife and kids doesn't quite hold up as well in its representation on film. By contrast there are two quite brilliant scenes involving Bauby's father played by the ever brilliant but frequently misused Max von Sydow.

In point of fact those two scenes were my favorite part of the film. The earlier of the two scenes shows with surprising skill the memory of Bauby recalling the last time he saw his father. He shaves his ailing father in the morning as they talk. There is an amazing emotional tenderness to the scene that holds your attention and moved me. It reminded me of my own connections with my father (although we certainly wouldn't act the way they do, more likely we would be mocking each other). Still the essence of the bond is powerful and I responded to it.

This early scene makes the later scene a tour-de-force of emotion. Bauby's father arranges to call and converse with his now incapacitated son. Bauby unable to speak but able to hear must dictate his thoughts using the blinking code to a nurse who gives the response. Sydow realizing he will not be able to hear his son's voice is heartbroken. His own poor memory makes it difficult for him to remember what he wants to say between answers. I was in tears by the end of that scene. Heartbreaking and emotionally draining.

Sadly I cannot say that all the scenes were so powerful or memorable. Many I felt were much weaker. Equally the unique style of Bauby's POV also eventually got tedious and I was thankful anytime they went to flashback just to see more traditional filming. I also thought it could have been a bit more probing into Bauby as a person, especially dealing with his pre-stroke and post-stroke life. Something that seemed a bit more stark in the memoir and a bit more sanitized in the movie.

Still overall there were some powerful scenes and performances and a great deal of unique style which are generally worthy of praise, despite my overall disappointment with the film. And here's hoping Mr. Sydow is in more films like this in the coming years and less films like Rush Hour 3.