The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

Synopsis of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The astonishing true-life story of Jean-Dominic Bauby -- a man who held the world in his palm, lost everything to sudden paralysis at 43 years old, and somehow found the strength to rebound -- first touched the world in Bauby's best-selling autobiography The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (aka La Scaphandre et la Papillon), then in Jean-Jacques Beineix's half-hour 1997 documentary of Bauby at work, released under the same title, and, ten years after that, in this Cannes-selected docudrama, helmed by Julian Schnabel (Basquiat) and adapted from the memoir by Ronald Harwood (Cromwell). The Schnabel/Harwood picture follows Bauby's story to the letter -- his instantaneous descent from a wealthy and congenial playboy and the editor of French Elle, to a bed-bound, hospitalized stroke victim with an inactive brain stem that made it impossible for him to speak or move a muscle of his body. This prison, as it were, became a kind of "diving bell" for Bauby -- one with no means of escape. With the editor's mind unaffected, his only solace lay in the "butterfly" of his seemingly depthless fantasies and memories. Because of Bauby's physical restriction, he only possessed one channel for communication with the outside world: ocular activity. By moving his eyes and blinking, he not only began to interact again with the world around him, but -- astonishingly -- authored the said memoir via a code used to signify specific letters of the alphabet. In Schnabel's picture, Mathieu Amalric tackles the difficult role of Bauby; the film co-stars Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze, Anne Consigny, and Patrick Chesnais. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Theatrical Feature Running Time:

112 mins

Director(s):

Julian Schnabel

Writer(s):

Ronald Harwood

Producer(s):

Kathleen Kennedy, Jon Kilik

Theatrical MPAA Rating:

PG13(Nudity, Sexual Situations, Adult Situations, Profanity)

• 2007 - Alliance of Women Film Journalists - Best Foreign Film
• 2007 - Alliance of Women Film Journalists - Best Editing
• 2007 - Alliance of Women Journalists - Best Editing
• 2007 - Alliance of Women Journalists - Best Foreign Film
• 2007 - American Film Institute - Best Picture
• - Boston Society of Film Critics - Best Foreign Language Film
• 2007 - Boston Society of Film Critics - Best Foreign Language Film
• 2007 - Boston Society of Film Critics - Best Director
• 2007 - Cannes Film Festival - Best Director
• 2007 - Cannes Film Festival - Prix Vulcain de l'Artiste-Technicien
• 2007 - Florida Film Critics - Best Foreign Language Film
• 2007 - Golden Globe - Best Foreign Language Film
• 2007 - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Foreign Language Film
• 2007 - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Director
• 2007 - Independent Spirit Awards - Best Cinematographer
• 2007 - Independent Spirit Awards - Best Director
• 2007 - Kansas City Film Critics Association - Best Foreign Language Film
• 2007 - Kansas City Film Critics Association - Best Director
• 2007 - Las Vegas Film Critics Association - Best Foreign Film
• 2007 - Los Angeles Film Critics Association - Best Cinematography
• 2007 - New York Film Critics Online - Best Picture
• 2007 - Oklahoma Film Critics Circle - Best Foreign Film
• 2007 - Phoenix Film Critics Association - Best Foreign Language Film
• 2007 - San Diego Film Critics Association - Best Foreign Language Film
• 2007 - San Francisco Film Critics Circle - Best Foreign Film
• 2007 - Southeastern Film Critics Association - Best Foreign Language Film
• 2007 - Southeastern Film Critics Circle - Best Foreign Language Film
• 2007 - St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association - Best Foreign Language Film
• 2007 - Washington D.C. Film Critics Association - Best Foreign Language Film

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