Goose Egg Marathon Film #9The Diving Bell and the Butterfly(2007, Julian Schnabel) After a few false starts I finally watched the
Diving Bell and the Butterfly this evening. I went in knowing the basic plot: stroke victim wakes in a hospital paralyzed from the neck down and only able to communicate with his left eyelash. Compelling hook to be sure. Especially when you discover that this film is based on a book he himself wrote via dictation communicating through said eyelash.
So the challenge for the filmmaker is 1) how to make a hospital drama that spends most of it's time in a single patient's room from being dull and over sentimental and 2) how to make interesting the mundane process of dictation - one requiring a constant repetition of spoken letters and the occasional blink. For me the director completely rose to this challenge - creating a completely compelling story, first seen exclusively through the first person, but then later - as almost for the audience to be able to breathe itself, transitions to a third person perspective.
The danger of a film like this is to spend time easing the audience through the narrative by using too many Ron Howardesque exposition delivery crutches such as flashbacks and external narratives. This film however, never once broke rank and left the universe of the perceptions and imaginations of Jean-Do. There are some flashbacks, but only one can be counted as truly filling in the holes in the plot.
I absolutely LOVED Marie-Josée Croze. I'm not sure if I thought her acting was great or if it was just the camera's sheer admiration of her face - certainly echo'ing the feelings of Jean-Do.
I also thought it was a good choice that the film didn't shy away from the "hero" being perhaps not really the best guy. So many times I caught myself struck by the incongruence of the what he was thinking vs how he looked. He is sarcastic, bitter, cracks jokes but then you see he face and you can't help but see a "vegetable". It was a huge lesson for me. One I hope I don't forget the next time I come across someone similarly disabled.
I will say in the end, I'll stop short of giving this my highest grade. Not so much for negatives (I can really think of none) but just that I anticipated being overwhelmed with emotion with this, but came out just mildly entertained. But I will say I come out a bit wiser, and a lot more open-minded. Nothing wrong with that.
I must admit (here is my worse-ever criticism of a movie yet) I got really frustrated with the fact that they couldn't come up with a more ingenious way to do the blinky-eye thing. Yeah yeah I know, but STILL what were they thinking!
I watch two movies back to back (this one and Touching the Void) that delved deeply into how one motivates himself to continue forward when really all hope is lost. They both spotlighted an incredible true story of men - given really no option - pressed on heroically given just one pretty lousy option. It's been a rough year - been looking for a bit of motivation. This is a 1-2 punch. Love when a movie can do that.
Verdict:
Harrowing story of overcoming an overwhelming disability. Very thought-provoking, but a bit more disconnective then I'd hoped.
Grade: B+