There is definitely some innovative techniques being tossed around when the director is filming the early coma-scenes from the patient's perspective, though I would struggle to call these groundbreaking or truly unique. Suspense is built as the patient's face is progressively revealed. We first get a glimpse of Jean-Do's face reflecting in a mirror as he is being wheeled in the great hall of the hospital. His reaction to his reflection is, "God, who's that? I look like I came out of a vat of formaldehyde." Indeed, it takes about 30 minutes into the film before we get to clearly see Bauby's distorted, frozen face. Beautifully shot by cinematographer Janusz Kaminski with a screenplay by Ronald Harwood, the film begins with Bauby's confused awakening in the hospital after twenty days in a coma. We see only a blur of images and claustrophobic close-ups that mirror the patient's mental state. We can make out a hospital room and doctors and nurses offering reassuring thoughts. We hear Bauby's words but the doctors do not and we know that while his body isn't functioning, his mind is as sharp as ever. With the help of a speech therapist (Marie-Josée Croze), and a very patient transcriber, a code is developed that allows Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), called Jean-Do by his friends and family, to compose a book based on his experience. The Empress: Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, was the patroness of the hospital, which contains various depictions of her. He tells of an imperial visit on May 4, 1864, where he imagines himself beside her. In one of the depictions, he sees a reflection that he finds disfigured but then realizes that it is his. There is a seamless blend of cinematography with the music to enhance the inner life of the main character, the viewer is at one with his inner frustration, his soaring imagination, his follies, faults and lusts. At times it is humorous, at others there are indelible vignettes - one of the long term partner (beautfully played by EmmanuelleSeigner) assisting his lover to communicate with him by telephone. Another is the incredible Max Von Sydow in a riveting performance as the elderly heart-broken father.

The new book explains what it is like to now be him, trapped in his body, which he sees as being within an old-fashioned deep-sea diving suit with a brass helmet, which is called a scaphandre in French, as in the original title. Others around see his spirit, still alive, as a "Butterfly". The writer of this memoir, suffered from this condition, and was only able to move one eye. His left eye. I must say that while his story and fate is indeed a tragic one, and one that sinks right into the heart but still an inspiring story as well, then this movie was unfathomably boring. It was so slow-paced and uneventful that it was somewhat of an ordeal to sit through. And with that in mind, one can only speculate about the horrible ordeal that life and situation must have been for Bauby himself in real life. Through a Glass, Darkly: Théophile and Céleste visit the author for Father's Day with their mother, Sylvie, Bauby's ex-wife. They head to the beach outside the hospital. He observes his children but is filled with sorrow as he cannot touch his son. He plays hangman with Théophile while Céleste puts on a show of acrobatics and song. They spend their day on the beach until it is time for his children to go.

Success!

The speech therapist who breaks through Bauby's barrier is excellent. Her motivation is, here is a man she respects and admires. It is also the biggest challenge of her career. Bauby's sense of humour, voiced as interior dialogue, is scathing. His lecherous thoughts about the therapist are tempered with good taste and his incorrect jokes about his own condition. Once the editor in chief of Elle magazine, and a very high profile socialite in Paris, his magnificent mind is now relegated to a whirlwind of thoughts and anecdotes told in a most painfully slow episode of one letter at a time. The 21st Century's 100 greatest films". BBC. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017 . Retrieved 2 September 2017.

It was nominated for four Academy Awards, but because the film was produced by an American company, it was ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Nominees & Winners of the 80th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved 9 September 2010. [ dead link] Elizabeth Day interviews ghost-writer Claude Mendibil". the Guardian. 2008-01-27 . Retrieved 2022-11-10. The Mythmaker: The author tells of an old schoolyard friend, Olivier, known for his runaway mythomania where he would claim to have spent his Sunday with Johnny Hallyday, gone to London to see the new James Bond film, or been driving the latest Honda. [4] Just as Olivier wove stories about himself, Bauby now imagines himself a Formula One driver, a soldier, or a cyclist. The Ladies of Hong Kong: He loved traveling and has banks of memories and smells to recall. The one place he has not managed to visit is Hong Kong; he imagines his colleagues there and how the people, presumably superstitious, would treat him.

This sealing of that eye is an early scene, which is so perfectly shot that it places you inside Bauby's head and body, and keeps you there for the entire film. You see the world as he views it while desiring to be free of the paralyzing feeling of a sinking diving bell. At other times, with his imagination, you find yourself fluttering as free as a butterfly. Earlier this year, a good friend, avid reader and film buff informed me that one of her favorite books was the basis for a film which recently won awards at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. I knew nothing of the novel or the film so she offered me the book to read. I enjoyed the story but didn't completely appreciate its depth until I recently got a sneak peek at the film. Thomas, Rebecca. Diving Bell movie's fly-away success, BBC, February 8, 2008. Accessed June 5, 2008. Its definitely a worthy experience on that score. In this part I'll include all the internals plus all the elements that dealt with his being. The only weak points here were two that bothered me. One is that the filmmaker inherited these diving and butterfly metaphors and felt compelled to show them. These are poorly done in my estimation. I think they could have worked if we had created three worlds, three layers, instead of the two. One of the hospital and outer world, another of the inner mind. If we had a third which would be the fictional world of that inner mind, it might have had a place. We come close in some parts, but a clear decision is apparent to keep it easy to read with the two truths.