Summary written by Omar P.L. Moore
There are none so blind as those who will not see, and while Elle
Magazine's editor Jean-Dominique Bauby may have breezed through life and high
society when he could see, he really saw deeply after a cerebravascular collapse
(or a stroke) paralyzed him completely in 1995, leaving him with movement of
only his left eye. He saw wonderful things, and Julian Schnabel, in just
his third film, shows us them all in vivid heartbeats of light, color and sound
-- if there was such a thing as a visual onomatopoeia, "Le Scaphandre Et Le
Papillon" would be it. Mr. Schnabel's film, spoken almost entirely in
French, and adapted by Ronald Harwood from Mr. Bauby's own memoirs, is poignant
and moving, but above all, very funny indeed. PopcornReel.com will review
this film in detail on December 21, but it is one of the great cinematic
achievements of the new century, not to mention 2007. Janusz Kaminski
(Steven Spielberg's frequent cinematographer) does some extraordinary things
with the camera -- and the film's first ten minutes are especially remarkable.
"Le Scaphandre Et Le Papillon" is one of the masterpieces of 2007.
Significant line of the film: "Henriette, you have no sense of humor."
(Spoken by Jean-Dominique Bauby to himself and you, the audience)
Film's length: One hour and 52 minutes
Feature story on "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly"
PopcornReel.com Movie Review of "The Diving Bell And The Butterfly"
