The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

[RedEarth]

This is an excellent movie and would highly recommend it to everyone. My wife and I watched it the other night with our daughter(a physical therapist who has dealt with a patient with the locked-in syndrome) and the movie can certainly help keep things in perspective.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a translation of the French memoir Le scaphandre et le papillon by journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. It describes what his life is like after suffering a massive stroke that left him with a condition called locked-in syndrome. It also details what his life was like before the stroke.

On December 8, 1995, Bauby, the editor-in-chief of Elle magazine, suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma. He awoke 20 days later, mentally aware of his surroundings but physically paralyzed with the exception of some movement in his head and eyes (one of which had to be sewn up due to an irrigation problem). The entire book was written by Bauby blinking his left eyelid, which took ten months (four hours a day)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diving_Bell_and_the_Butterfly

Diving Bell movie's fly-away success

By Rebecca Thomas
BBC News entertainment reporter

Adapting a well-loved book for the cinema is always a risky business, but for Julian Schnabel, US director of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the gamble has paid off.

Schnabel has notched up a string of awards, including two Golden Globes, and is nominated in four categories at the Academy Awards.

His French-language film is based on the best-selling memoir of the same name by Jean-Dominique Bauby.

Bauby, the gregarious, "bon viveur" editor of French Elle magazine was, at the age of 43, suddenly paralysed by a devastating stroke.

Diagnosed with "locked-in syndrome", all that remained to him was one unaffected eye - and the strength of his mind.

Though appalled by his condition, Bauby came to realise that he had been left with an incredible gift.

......

Stripped of the trappings of his former world, Bauby ultimately sees the true value of life and the people around him.

And, Schnabel says he wants the audience to be uplifted by his film.

"They should feel it's very life-affirming. People go home and hug their kids after they've seen it and think how fortunate they are," he says.

"They see that the material of beauty is something they can look for in their interior lives.

"Bauby was quite resolved and collected when he died and it's very peaceful ultimately. He solved the problem: he turned a disaster into something extraordinary."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7230051.stm

The Diving Bell And The Butterfly Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Ek4ZBpshs

[Captain Hilts]

1. The book is a great read. nt

[likesmountains 52]

5. Agreed, the book is really great.

[Captain Hilts]

6. I would also like to see the movie. nt

[bigwillq]

2. I still want to see that movie.

It popped on HBO a few months back when I got home from work at like 2 a.m. I didn't feel like reading the subtitles, I was tired. But I still want to see it.

[tigereye]

3. I would very much like to read the book, and the movie sounds amazing

[applegrove]

4. I tried to watch it twice but I just wasn't into it.