The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

December 06, 2007


There is a part in the trailer for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly where entirely paralyzed locked-in syndrome sufferer Jean-Domenique Bauby is wrapped up in blankets on a platform in the ocean, unfeeling anything because he is completely immobilized. Waves crash around him and he’s silent and unmoved and everything is very sweeping and emotional and we saw this about ten trillion times in the theater and each time it was more “triumphant!” and corny. But then our friend made us see it (even though we kind of wanted to see Starting Out in the Evening because we are old) and it was super crazy and not trite and triumphant without quotes or corniness. Julian Schnabel made an epic movie about a guy who can only blink. We can’t even blink epically. Watching an eyelid sewed up from the inside is the future of film. Go see it, if only for better use of Velvet Underground in a weirdo French movie than Michel Gondry could ever wish for.

Posted: December 06, 2007
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly