The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Le Scaphandre et le Papillon
2007FranceLanguage: frDirected by Julian Schnabel★ 7.6
Available in English: subtitled
Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of French fashion bible Elle magazine, has a devastating stroke at age 43. The damage to his brain stem results in locked-in syndrome, with which he is almost completely paralyzed and only able to communicate by blinking an eye. Bauby painstakingly dictates his memoir via the only means of expression left to him.
Themes and style
Tone
melancholichauntinghopefuldark comedysurreal
Pacing
slow burndreamlikemethodical
Story
unravelingjourneysurvival
Emotion
feeling powerlessfiguring out who you aregrieflongingredemptionloss of innocence
Themes
family wounds passed downfamily dutyclass and money
Feel
quietly hauntingcatharticcerebralemotionally wreckingdiscussion starter
Violence
none