The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Review by Anthony Morris

When Jean Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalirc) wakes up in a hospital on the western coast of France with no memory of how he got there, he's told he should be glad he survived - a few years ago the massive stroke he suffered would have killed him. 

But it's easy to see why he might have his doubts: completely paralysed apart from one eyelid, unable to speak or turn his head, he's a prisoner in his body. And yet, as this true story unfolds, he not only learns to communicate - those with him have to read out the alphabet letter by letter (in order of most common to least common letters), watching to see which letter he blinks at to spell out words - he ends up writing the very book this film is based on. 

It's an involving tale, told almost entirely from inside Jean-Dom's head (for the early part of the film we only see his face when he can see it reflected back at him), and there's no denying the power of his long struggle back into life.

Thankfully Jean-Dom is no saint, even if his sins are hardly that: he'd left the mother of his children for his mistress (who refused to visit him after the stroke), and his early thoughts towards his therapists were more to do with how attractive they were than the good they could do him. But for all the obvious skill and care that has gone into making this film an engaging and moving look at Jean-Dom's post-stroke life, it's hard to imagine too many viewers wanting to put themselves through such a nightmarish experience.

Some will no doubt be moved by his ordeal: most will thank the deity of their choice that it didn't happen to them.

4 out of 5

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Australian release: 14th February, 2008
Cast: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josee Croze, Anne Consigny
Director: Julian Schnabel