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The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

Director: Julian Schnabel

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From Time Out New York

From his first Mary Boone solo show, art star Julian Schnabel has courted a provocateur’s stance: the bold, bearded enfant terrible who’s going to make you feel something, dammit. Succeed or fail, Schnabel would do it fully. So it’s been something of a surprise that his three films to date have been mixed affairs, not exactly muted so much as stunted—with flashes of excellence.

As with Basquiat and Before Night Falls, Schnabel’s latest boasts an inspired central turn, here by Mathieu Amalric as the real-life Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor of French Elle who, after being felled by a stroke in 1995 that paralyzed all but one eyelid, still managed to write a memoir. Amalric’s performance is magnificent, retaining a rakish independence even while frozen in repose. (The actor has inspired his castmates to equally standout work, especially Emmanuelle Seigner, who’s always seemed faintly ornamental, and Schindler’s List cameraman Janusz Kaminski, adopting a bedridden POV.)

But despite such commitments, Schnabel can’t seem to hit a consistent emotional tone. It’s not that his film veers wildly into sentiment, though it does that once or twice. Rather, it alternates with a fickleness between somewhat-dated pop grandeur, courtesy of U2 and Tom Waits, and the reservation of a much darker art film. Bauby is trapped in himself. Optimistically, Schnabel would like to fill such an ordeal with color, music and hot nurses. Wedding himself to Bauby’s real trauma, though, seems beyond him.

Author: Joshua Rothkopf 2007-11-27 15:56:52

Time Out New York Issue 635: November 28–December 5, 2007

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User reviews of this film

  • Helen said...
    Posted on Dec 04 2009 18:30 I think I may need to watch this film again as my views are in bleak contrast with the overwhelming majority. Perhaps it's because I knew nothing of Jean-Dominique Bauby prior to watching this film, or perhaps I have a heart of stone but this film really did not stir my emotions. I had little emotional investment in the plight of Bauby, I found him shallow, pretentious, somewhat misogynistic and a generally unlikeable character. Yes, Schnabel does an excellent job of portraying the locked in, inner space of Bauby and the cinematography is beautiful, however these strengths are almost ornamental since the film does not resonate with me emotionally- which I believe was its intention.
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  • Myna Wallin said...
    Posted on Aug 03 2008 02:07 It's hard not to admire a film of this scope and ambition, but I am not one of those uplifted and changed as a result. Maybe it's a French thing, this reticence of the protagonist, to rage against his situation. Instead, he's a bemused poetic figure, at an enigmatic remove, who never seems to suffer as much as those around him. Is that the point? Does literature save him? Family? Nurses' nubile bodies and sweet tenderness? I found it beautiful but elusive, emotionally, and thought it never lived up to its hype.
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  • Nick said...
    Posted on May 16 2008 20:24 It is nice to see others that are not as keen on this movie. A reference to gaming, movies like this are akin to "Grand Theft Auto" syndrome, it means that for some reason, everyone thinks it is the best thing known to mankind.
    This movie lacked heart, and it went from forcing emotion down our throat and being just silly. It lost me the second they did the chase-cam on the butterfly.
    This isn't to say the actors weren't good, Max Von Sydow made me cry, his emotions were haunting. However a few good scenes of acting does not a good movie make.
    I felt nothing but apathy for Bauby - his character had nothing redeeming, and he had little change throughout his entire life. Maybe that was what was lost in the translation from book to movie, however I don't know.
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  • Keelaay said...
    Posted on May 13 2008 23:54 Bauby's trauma is heroically portrayed in all its vast scope and all its bewilderment. A magnificent film... a terrible review.
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The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

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Cast & crew

Director: Julian Schnabel

Cast: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marina Hands, Marie-Josée Croze, Max von Sydow, Anne Consigny, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Issach de Bankolé, Olatz Lopez Garmendia full cast

Genre(s): Drama

Rated: PG-13

Duration: 112 mins

US Release: Nov 30 2007

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