If you have ever wondered what it must feel like to live without the function of your limbs and faculty of the rest of your body, look no further than “The Diving Bell and Butterfly" (or "Le Scaphandre et le Papillon").
Based on the life of French fashion editor Jean-Dominique Bauby after a crippling stroke in 1995, the 2007 film follows his struggle to regain the life he has left after being diagnosed with “locked-in syndrome” and left paralyzed, save for his left eye.
Ranked 18th on the American Cinematographer’s list of 50 best-shot films in the last decade, “The Diving Bell and Butterfly” presents a unique set of conditions in comparison to its French peer “Amélie.”
Largely told through Bauby’s perspective, namely through the left eye, the film serves us an unsettling and dismal view of Bauby’s new static and often times, crooked world.
Picturesque cinematography is scarce and when present, is always somehow imperfect——always askew. There is no fanciness, no ideally lit or well-framed visual indication of underlying themes or emotions; instead, it is raw and incoherent in form and by that, authentic in experience.
One sees and feels and struggles as Bauby does. And with him, we know the anguish without seeing his tears because when the screen clouds over and the colors in the frame blur together, it is enough to understand. The film is a ride, a frustrating and intensely personal ride that is undoubtedly worth its placement on your Netflix queue.
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