STUDIO: Walt Disney
RELEASE DATE: April 29, 2008
STARRING: Mathieu Amalric, Marie-Josee Croze, Emmanuelle Seigner, and Max Von Sydow
WRITTEN BY: Ronald Harwood
DIRECTED BY: Julian Schnabel
FEATURES: Submerged: The Making Of The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
A Cinematic Vision
Audio Commentary With Director Julian Schnabel
Charlie Rose Interviews Julian Schnabel

If we're lucky, there are a few movies a year that transcend pure cinema to become something more of an experience than the typically passive movies that we're used to paying to see. It's nearly impossible to watch The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and not put something about your life into perspective; not to realize how fleeting life can be and how suddenly it can change; and not to recognize that there's something truly amazing about what remains even after the body has been destroyed. Diving Bell is the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), a successful, vibrant man who was struck down in his prime and left with only the movement of one of his eyelids. Bauby went through all the pain of being trapped in his own body that you or I would go through but when it came time to give up, he went in a different direction. He used his one eyelid to communicate an entire novel about his memories, dreams, and imagination. Julian Schnabel's stunning adaptation of that film is not only one of the best movies of last year, it's one of the best of the last several. It's a must-see on every level that we at The Deadbolt have already written about extensively, even citing the work of all four of the major players - Mathieu Amalric, Marie-Josee Croze, Emmanuelle Seigner, and Max Von Sydow - in our The Best Performances of 2007. Instead of the standard DVD review, we thought we'd turn to words we've already written. Before we pass the mic to ourselves, it should be noted that the DVD looks perfect, something necessary for such an incredible video experience. The audio is on-par and the special features, especially a great interview with Charlie Rose and director Schnabel, expand the film, instead of just feeling like tacked-on special features.

Theatrical Review
"The landscape of cinema is littered with dramas centered around how the strengths of the inner human can overcome the weaknesses of their external frames. Most fail to convey the pain and emotion of the experience without sinking into melodrama and manipulation, winding up as fodder for a Lifetime Channel holiday movie marathon. Those films that can get past the heart-string pulling and still remain emotionally moving are extremely rare. Just as hard to come by are filmmakers willing to take chances on a project deemed unfilmable by approaching the film from a wholly new and original angle. Director Julian Schnabel (Basquiat, Before Night Falls) is not a typical director, and it's his unique viewpoint and way of approaching his material that makes his third film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a true masterpiece. It's a haunting, emotional experience that ranks with the best of the year. Like most truly excellent films, it's hard to fully capture its power in words. You simply have to experience it."

The Best Films of 2007
"The true story of a man trapped in his own body by a horrible stroke that allowed him movement of only his eye would be a powerful one in almost anyone's hands, but it's the choices made by the team behind The Diving Bell and the Butterfly that make it one of the best films of the last few years. Diving Bell isn't your average movie by any stretch of the imagination. Almost the entire first third is shot from the perspective of the lead character, a sensation unbelievably captured by master cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, who turns his camera into a fluttering, immobile eyelid. From there, Julian Schnabel starts to pepper in shots from other character's perspectives, and we can see how the rest of the world views a man we already feel like we know. And then Diving Bell truly takes off by inserting more and more memories, including unforgettably heartbreaking passages with Max Von Sydow and a trip to Lourdes that ranks with the best scenes in film of the year. Internal misery, external pain, the power of memory, and, eventually, the human will - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly isn't as much of a film as it is an experience. You won't be the same for hours, days, or weeks after you see it. You might never be the same again."

Interview With Mathieu Amalric
"I think it was first the meeting with Julian [Schnabel] and the necessity he had to do the film. We spent four days in his home and we didn’t even know each other and it was Thanksgiving, so we mostly cooked and he showed me where he surfed and where he did his painting and things like that. Then there was the script. We read it and then we started talking and he told me a lot about the moment when his father died, the fear of death that he saw in his eyes, he gave me a poem his father wrote just before dying - things that were quite intimate and the first thing I thought was, ‘How can I be allowed to do a film on this story?’ But when I saw for Julian it was so important and a huge part of his life, and the book became such a symbolic object for him, that’s what put me in this story. Then, of course, I found that was in the script, it was a great idea from Ronald [Harwood], let’s be in the head of this man. When he awakes, he doesn’t know what happened to him, he doesn’t know the face he has, so we’re going to stay in his head and the only thing we can know about him are his inner thoughts."