Watch The Diving Bell and the Butterfly For Free

Sadly Over-hyped

A Major Disappointment

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (original French title: Le Scaphandre et le Papillon) is not only the story of what happened to Jean-Dominique Bauby after he suffered a stroke, it is a story of the human will, and the fighting spirit of Mr. Bauby in particular. There's no doubt about it, the real life story is a 10 out of 10. How about the movie?Unfortunately the movie doesn't quite live up to its potential, or do full justice to this amazing story. That's not to say it isn't well acted. Mathieu Amalric can not be faulted, he is flawless in his portrayal of Jean-Dominique Bauby. However, the movie does not quite deliver on the emotional level, or in setting up the story fully. We spend a lot of time seeing Bauby communicating with beautiful women by blinking his left eye. It becomes more about the writing of the book than it does about his life and his incredible accomplishment. Even the conclusion fades away.It's still a movie I would recommend, most of all because of the overall qualities intrinsic in the real life story. Done right, it could have been a multiple Academy-award winning movie.

France is teaching us how to create beautiful and artistic cinematic masterpieces, and its strongest example yet is "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." This true story is about a man named Jean-Do who suffers a seizure that causes his entire body to be paralyzed except for his left eye. Jean-Do is still cognitive and was a very successful editor for the fashion magazine "elle" who had many different lovers, two children, and wealth. Jean-Do experiences many beautiful memories and thoughts through the power of imagination after getting a detailed background of his life and health situation. His ex lover and mother of his children, Celine, visits and takes care of him often, while he misses his current lover and aged father. Jean-Do also is powered by the faces of beautiful nurses who help him and get to understand him by blinking his left eye while they say letters, noting that when he blinks the previous letter was chosen in his constructing word. Director Julian Schnabel makes you see the world through the eyes of Jean-Do himself and creates shots that are so unique that you'll think "How did he do that?" We see the world through the eyes of a physically weak man, but get the thoughts of a powerful and vibrant man with strong feelings and emotions about love and happiness with help from skilled cinematographers. The beauty of each flashback makes us feel grateful for being able to live life with freedom and ability to do whatever we want. We also get to see the formations and failure of various relationships in Jean-Do's life that are very relatable. The perks of parenthood, marriage, and fraternal connections are examined with the perfect amount of screen-time. This masterpiece is set up perfectly and put together in fantastic order to bring you one of the most beautiful and well-constructed foreign films of all time. The beauty of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is full of rich symbolism and talented film-makers that you'll be grateful to live and achieve everything you've ever wanted. Live life the best you can, never take anything for granted, and find the beauty in everything, that's the messages we are sent from a work of art that is one of cinema's strongest icons.

The POV story of a man who becomes paralysed by a stroke, and the book he eventually manages to write by blinking at his assistant. In spite of not being faithful to the book and being completely bourgeois, TDBATB powerfully puts across the terrible experience of Jean-Do. The main thrust of the story is of how his wife and mistress react to his condition, and how it's the mistress he really loves in the end. What's very good is Jean-Do's inexpressible anger and cynicism at the patronising and stupid reactions of most of the people he interacts with - in his head. What's not so good is how it's the sentimental story of a privileged narcissist, but the French always do that well.If this ever happens to me, however, I would like my speech therapist to use the system from Breaking Bad - you have a 5x5 matrix board of the alphabet and pick row, then column, to choose your letter. Jean-Do could have saved a good six months of people reciting the alphabet to him. French medical care, eh?

Based on a true story of a young French fashion editor who had a stroke and ending up unable to move a muscle in his body as a result, it's an inspiring tale of guts and determination. Suffering from a condition known as Locked In Syndrome, he manages to communicate with the help of a driven speech therapist and even starts to write a book, coincidentally enough, with the same name as this movie. You see, metaphorically speaking he's in this 'Diving Bell' underwater so he can't budge an inch, but his imagination 'The Butterfly' is free to roam. Meh, you'll understand it when you're older.I can only imagine the horror of being stuck in a lifeless husk of a body... I think I'd want to die. The guy is far braver than I am.... every day people bathe him, dress him, assist him with his toilet functions... and yet he still manages to smile and retain his rather dark sense of humour. Either that or go insane, I suppose. We see his life before the tragedy, and there is rather a sad irony in his actions in the past, considering his current status. Could this be a form of cosmic justice?Mathieu Amalric is breathtakingly good as the paraplegic lead. A lot of the movie is shot from his POV, and we get a real feel for his character as he experiences ups and downs while adjusting to his new outlook on life. Emmanuelle Seigner is just plain adorable as the lady who helps him find his voice... she's so pretty, you can see how he mistakes her for an angel at first glance. As a triumph over adversity flick, it's a good 'un, and lacks the cheese factor you would associate with an American entry into this genre. Recommended. 7/10