SYNOPSIS:
At 43, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the rakishly successful
and charismatic editor in chief of French Elle was a man defined
by his passion of life. On December 1995, he suffered a massive
stroke and his brain stem was rendered inactive. In these
few bewildering moments, his life was changed forever. After
lapsing into coma, he awoke 20 days later to find himself
almost totally paralyzed except his left eye. He was mentally
alert but permanently deprived of movement and speech.
Refusing to accept his fate, Bauby was determined to escape
the paralysis of his diving bell and free the butterflies
of his dreams and imagination. The only way he could express
his frustration, however was by blinking his left eye like
the fluttering butterfly. These movements and blinking a code
representing letters of the alphabet became his sole means
of communication. Slowly, painstakingly - words, sentences,
paragraphs and finally an affecting and life-affirming memoir
emerged.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Many people suffer from claustrophobia, the fear of enclosed
spaces. The film ‘the Diving Bell and the Butterfly’
is about a man suffering a condition that is infinitely worse,
locked-in syndrome. Here the mind is completely functional
but the body is unable to move. Instead of being trapped by
the walls of a room the person is imprisoned in their own
body.
In the film the protagonist is only able to blink his left
eye. This is his only means of communication with the outside
world. This may seem like a boring topic for a film; a man
lying endlessly in bed blinking on eye. In the hands of the
cast and crew involved in this film something rare and wonderful
occurred; they made cinematic history.
This is one of the most touching and moving films to come
around in many years. Even if you are not a fan of foreign
films this is one that is not to be missed. You cannot help
but to be deeply affected by this story and the fashion in
which it is presented. This returns movies back to the art
of cinema. It is a human story that is told with compassion,
realism and beauty. It's a series of simple moments, performed
elegantly by the cast, and it underscores the humanity of
this powerful film superbly.
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
NIL.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Pleasantly
grainy, the image shows some signs of strain, but aside from
some instances of haloing, it's a virtually spotless transfer,
with accurate skin tones, pleasant black levels, and great
color saturation.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review by Lokman B S
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