Have you seen The Diving Bell and the Butterfly?
May 31, 2008
Marie and I saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly a few days ago. It was an unusual movie, based on a true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby’s stroke, near total paralysis, and determined memoir that grew from it.
I admired Bauby’s creative “to the end” spirit.
I somewhat more appreciated the entire support system of translators and therapists (mostly women), that nursed him through his tedious memoir translation process.
His ailment left him and his a support group the daunting task of communication… using only the blink of one eye, and a alphabetical designation to each blink.
The movie is well shot in an artistic “point of view” fashion by 1980’s art star painter turned director Julian Schnabel.
“Interesting” is too passive a word for this exquisite movie… because the emotional backdrop is so difficult to imagine and capture without being overly sentimental.
It intrigues me that “Jean Do” in the beginning expresses his desire to die…. Isn’t that how we’d all feel in his situation?
The mere fact that a memoir was produced at all, is a testament to the human spirit by Bauby and his extensive support group.
A powerful movie IMHO…
June 10, 2008 at 8:14 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!