I know I’m behind the curve on this one, considering The Diving Bell & the Butterfly was nominated for its four academy awards back in February (including two of my favorite categories: Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay). I am bringing it up now because, having just seen it, I cannot let this movie pass by without recommending it to you.
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly transcends the uplifting movie-of-the-week story through Schnabel’s artful direction and deep empathy” (Mark Pfeiffer, Reel Times & Rotten Tomatoes).
Based on a true story, the main character, a 45 year old fashion editor, has a stroke and can only communicate by blinking a single eyelid (and actually wrote a novel this way). While one might imagine that a movie about one unmoving person is boring, it is not (and it is not unmoving either). The movie is magical due to director Julian Schnabel’s talents: much of the movie is actually seen through the main character’s one, blinking eye.
So, if you fancy yourself a film buff or would enjoy a unique & entertaining evening I would take a chance on this one. I would rate it higher than the best picture winners this go-round, and even rotten tomatoes had a hard time doing anything but gush about it.
2 Responses for "The Diving Bell & the Butterfly"
looks beautiful! can’t wait to see it! it is now on my “to watch” list
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!
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