Rating of
2.5/4
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Amyaronson - wrote on 07/18/11
I've been meaning to watch this for some time now, and I finally did, so yay! It was a critically acclaimed movie a couple of years ago and NPR talked about it every other second. It's a true story, based on Jean-Dominique Bauby's memoir. Bauby was the Chief Editor of Elle in France, and when he was in his 40's, he suffered from a major stroke that left his brain fully functioning, but everything paralyzed except for one eye. He learned to communicate through a system involving the alphabet, very patient people, and blinking. In this way, he wrote his memoir.
It was halfway through the film before I realized I was watching it dubbed. I kept thinking, "I thought this was in French! Why are they in France with French accents speaking English!?" Oh Amy. So, that cleared up the weird sound quality and kind of...clunkiness in the line delivery. I think I may have enjoyed it more with subtitles. I've never watched a film dubbed before. Not a fan.
Anyway, it's really beautiful and depressing and thought-provoking. That's really all there is to say about it. I don't know if I thought it was quite as good as all the reviews and awards indicated, but it was still a great quality film. So, if you are feeling too happy and need to be brought down, watch this! Or if you are having a pity party because things aren't going right in your life, watch this! At least you can move and speak!
