The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: DVD Review (2008)
5/06/2008 Posted by Admin
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”Cocooned.
Julian Schnabel’s moving, real-life story follows Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Almaric), who, at 43, suffered a massive stroke that left him with something called "locked-in syndrome.”
Though Bauby’s mind returned to full capacity upon waking from the coma induced by the stroke, his body was paralyzed. The only exception was his left eye, which he was able to use, and which became his only tool for communication.
The film is based on Bauby’s own memoir, published days before his 1997 death.
If it’s the fact that Bauby was able to write a book at all that makes the movie such a testament to the human spirit, then it’s his sometimes sarcastic, other times deeply regretful internal monologue that makes the movie so powerfully complex.
Read the full, unedited review here.
Rated PG-13. Grade: A
June 11, 2008 at 5:14 AM
I loved "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", but the movie I'd rather see is "My Stroke of Insight", which is the amazing bestselling book by Dr Jill Bolte Taylor. It is an incredible story and there's a happy ending. She was a 37 year old Harvard brain scientist who had a stroke in the left half of her brain. The story is about how she fully recovered, what she learned and experienced, and it teaches a lot about how to live a better life. Her TEDTalk at TED dot com is fantastic too. It's been spread online millions of times and you'll see why!